Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Migrant Workers

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of nurses and non-clinical staff paid under £30,000 per annum who will be able to continue to work in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Stephen Hammond: The United Kingdom’s future immigration system is set out in the Government’s Immigration White Paper, which was published on 19 December 2018. At the time of publication, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department announced that the salary threshold would be the subject of further engagement. The Government is continuing to work with employers, representative bodies and charities in the health and social care sector to help contribute to the discussion on an appropriate threshold. European Union nationals currently working in the health and social care sectors can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to secure their long-term status in the UK. The scheme is now open and, further to the Prime Minister’s announcement on 21 January 2019, from 30 March 2019 onwards, EU nationals will not have to pay for their application. Any application made before that date, including those that have already been made, will be reimbursed.

Pre-eclampsia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that pre-eclampsia is diagnosed in the early stages of pregnancy.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Hypertension or high blood pressure during pregnancy (known as pre-eclampsia) is the most common medical problem that is encountered in pregnancy. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, ‘Hypertension in pregnancy: diagnosis and management’, is aimed at healthcare professionals and women who develop hypertension during pregnancy. The guidance aims to improve care during pregnancy, labour and birth for women and their babies. Most clinical activity relating to pre-eclampsia is focused on diagnosing the condition as early as possible and managing the condition when it has been identified. NHS England expects providers of maternity care to pay due regard to NICE guidelines on diagnosing and managing pre-eclampsia. These are set out at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg107 There are currently plans to review the relevant NICE guidelines, with a consultation expected between February and March 2019 on the following recommendations:- management of pregnancy with chronic hypertension;- management of pregnancy with gestational hypertension;- management of pregnancy with pre-eclampsia;- breastfeeding; and- advice and follow-up care at transfer to community care. We would encourage relevant stakeholders to contribute to this consultation. Publication of any update to these recommendations is expected in June 2019.

Veterans: Mental Health Services

Kirstene Hair: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to provide further support for veterans with mental health issues.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In England, the National Health Service has announced that an extra £10 million will be invested into a new NHS dedicated crisis service that will expand the current bespoke veteran mental health services and provide intensive support to veterans battling alcohol, drugs and mental health problems, capturing those individuals nearing crisis. The extra funding will also enable a roll out of veteran-friendly general practitioner surgeries and hospitals as part of efforts to make sure those who have served their country get specialist help they deserve in every part of the health service.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that young people with mental health problems can access treatment on the NHS.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In June last year the Government announced a £20.5 billion annual real terms uplift for the National Health Service by 2023/24. Following this, the NHS has published its Long Term Plan which sets out what the NHS will deliver for patients over the coming years. An additional investment of £2.3 billion a year will go into the NHS for mental health services by 2023/24, ensuring growth in investment in mental health services for children and young people faster than both NHS spending and mental health spending overall. Over the next five years, the NHS will therefore continue to invest in expanding access to community-based mental health services to meet the needs of more children and young people, so that by 2023/24 at least an additional 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 will be able to access support via NHS funded mental health services and school or college-based Mental Health Support Teams.

National FGM Centre: Finance

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to allocate future funding to the National FGM Centre.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has no plans to allocate future funding to the National FGM Centre.

Healthy Start Scheme

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the public consultation on the Government’s Healthy Start scheme he plans to publish.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are considering a range of options for consulting on Healthy Start vouchers and will confirm our intentions shortly.

Speech Therapy: Training

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to allow speech and language therapists to train as approved mental capacity professionals.

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department plans to provide to speech and language therapists to allow them to train as approved mental capacity professionals.

Caroline Dinenage: We envisage that speech and language therapists will play a vital role in the new system of the Liberty Protection Safeguards, particularly in circumstances when the person is non-verbal or has communication support needs. We expect speech and language therapists would be consulted in appropriate cases in order to ascertain the wishes and feelings of the cared-for person. We will use the statutory Code of Practice to describe the detail of when the involvement of Speech and Language Therapists can help and support the Liberty Protection Safeguards process. We will also use the statutory Code of Practice to detail the professionals who can become Approved Mental Capacity Professionals.

Mental Health and Employers Independent Review

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Backbench Business Committee debate on Mental Health First Aid on 17 January 2019, Official Report columns 1366-1395, what steps the Government has taken to implement each of the recommendations of the Farmer-Stevenson review.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Backbench Business Committee debate on Mental Health First Aid on 17 January 2019 Official Report columns 1366-1395, by what date the Government plans to ensure that the recommendations of the Farmer-Stevenson review that are not yet implemented are implemented.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Backbench Business debate on Mental Health First Aid of 17 January 2019, how the Government plans to make employers aware of examples of best practice concerning mental health in the workplace.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The review’s 40 recommendations covered proposals for how the standards should be communicated and promoted, and suggestions for wider policy change. Following the Prime Minister’s acceptance of the recommendations that apply to the Civil Service and NHS England as major employers, both have made progress in implementing these. Significant progress has been made in the public sector. The National Health Service is implementing the mental health standards through the new single NHS Workforce Health and Wellbeing Framework, which was published on 16 May 2018 and shared with NHS organisations. The Civil Service has benchmarked all main Government departments and their agencies/non-Departmental public bodies against the core and enhanced mental health standards to identify best practice and areas requiring further action. On 18 July 2018, the Work and Health Unit and the Local Government Association held a Public Sector Summit which brought together public sector leaders and experts to share best practice on mental health support and how the review’s recommendations are being implemented and championed by employers in this sector. With regards to the private sector, we have promoted the standards through a range of communication channels. We have also recently established the Thriving at Work Leadership Council which met on 17 January 2019 and consists of a range of business representatives and leading trade associations. The council will continue to meet throughout 2019 and provide a platform to champion the core and enhanced standards and explore innovative solutions to further drive their implementation and take up. Work is also underway on the policy recommendations.

Mental Health: Schools

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Backbench Business Committee debate on Mental Health First Aid on 17 January 2019, Official Report columns 1366-1395, by what date the Government plans to ensure that at least one member of staff in each primary and secondary school has received mental health first aid training.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Backbench Business Committee debate on Mental Health First Aid on 17 January 2019, by what date the Government plans to put out to tender the contracts to provide mental health first aid training for a primary school staff member in each school.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This Government has committed to ensuring that at least one member of staff in every secondary school will receive mental health ‘first aid’ training by 2020 to enable school staff to spot common signs of mental health issues, and to help children and young people receive appropriate support. During the 2017 general election, the Conservative manifesto also pledged to extend the existing commitment to deliver mental health first aid training to all primary schools by the end of parliament. The Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Department for Education to explore the appropriate procurement options to deliver this commitment.

Continuing Care

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people received continuing health care in each Care Commission Group; and the cost of that care in each of the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: A table showing the number of cases found eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) during the years from 2013-14 to 2017-18 is attached. The table refers to the clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) at that time; the total is for both standard and fast track NHS CHC. Tables showing CCG total NHS CHC expenditure by year, 2013-14 to 2017-18 is attached. Due to different number of weeks paid for in a care package, it is not possible to calculate an average package cost. Activity and cost data cannot therefore be used to approximate cost per person.



PQ211100 attached table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 36.85 KB)




PQ211100 attached table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 32.39 KB)

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he plans to hold with BAME communities on the development of a new alcohol strategy.

Steve Brine: The Government continues to hold regular discussions on the options for future alcohol policy development. Officials across Government will continue to engage with a variety of groups and communities in the development of alcohol policy to help understand where we are falling short and what more we can do.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase the number of places on the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)  Impact Trial so that no one who could benefit from PrEP is denied that opportunity.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people that will be infected with HIV as a result of being unable to access the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Impact Trial.

Steve Brine: The Department recognises the importance of the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) impact trial. NHS England has announced it supports expansion of the trial and we are actively considering the next steps in relation to PrEP. The Department has not made any assessment of the number of people that will be infected with HIV as a result of being unable to access the trial. Where centres are closed to recruitment there are arrangements in place to re-direct people to other trial centres.

Prostate Cancer

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of prostate cancer over the next two years.

Steve Brine: Prostate cancer is largely a disease of older men and we expect incidence to rise in the coming years due to the ageing population. However, early diagnosis is important and that is why the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme is in place so men can discuss the risks and benefits of being tested within general practice. The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed the evidence about screening for prostate cancer in 2016 and recommended against a population screening programme. The UK NSC will be reviewing the evidence for screening for prostate cancer in 2019/20. More information is available at the following link: https://legacyscreening.phe.org.uk/prostatecancer

Influenza: Vaccination

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of funding the free influenza vaccine for social care staff.

Steve Brine: Flu vaccination of social care workers is recommended to protect staff, protect vulnerable users and to contribute to resilience of the health and social care system in the winter, including prevention of outbreaks in care homes. In October 2017, NHS England announced additional funding to support vaccination of frontline social care staff working in residential and care homes and in the community and offering direct care to vulnerable people. The 2017/18 NHS seasonal flu programme offered by general practices and community pharmacy was extended to include frontline social care staff. This was continued in 2018/19 and extended to frontline health and care staff working in the voluntary managed hospice sector. This scheme is intended to complement, not replace, any established occupational health schemes that employers have in place to offer the flu vaccination to their workforce.

Influenza: Vaccination

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of monitoring influenza vaccination uptake among social care staff.

Steve Brine: Frontline social care workers should be provided with influenza vaccine by their employer, with some staff able to access vaccination from their general practitioner or community pharmacy in a scheme funded by NHS England. Collecting comprehensive uptake data at a national level would be challenging. Most social care organisations do not have appropriate systems in place either to deliver influenza vaccine or collect uptake information and there are a large number of organisations, many independent, in the sector. In 2016/17, Public Health England undertook a pilot data collection in a sample of 320 care homes across England with a response rate of 51%. 70% of responding care homes do not have systems in place to collect data on staff influenza vaccination. In addition, only 38% of the responding care homes in the study sample provided data on vaccine uptake despite considerable local follow-up. For the 2018/19 season, NHS England is collecting data on the number of social care workers that access vaccination through the scheme they fund for some staff.

Breast Cancer

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the funding required to ensure that all women with secondary breast cancer have access to (a) a clinical nurse specialist and (b) the required expertise and support.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan, whether it is his policy that all women with secondary breast cancer will have access to a dedicated clinical nurse specialist with the skills, time and resources to support them.

Steve Brine: The NHS Cancer Programme aims to improve access to cancer Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) for all cancer patients when they need it, including those with secondary breast cancer. The new NHS Long Term Plan commitment is that all patients, including those with secondary cancers, will have access to the right expertise and support, including a CNS or other support worker by 2021. Following publication of the Long Term Plan, Health Education England will work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to understand the longer-term workforce implications for further development of cancer services. This will include work to expand the number of CNS and develop clear CNS competencies and routes into training.

Eyesight: Children

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage parents and carers to have their children's eyes examined by an optometrist from the age of three as recommended by the Association of Optometrists.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that parents and carers are aware that children under 16 years old are entitled to NHS-funded sight tests.

Steve Brine: The Department does not recommend that all children have their first sight test around the age of three. The United Kingdom National Screening Committee recommends that vision screening should be offered to all children aged four to five years rather than routine sight tests for younger children. This approach is supported by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists as well as the British and Irish Orthoptic Society. Local authorities (LAs) have responsibility for commissioning this as local screening services. Public Health England has made available guidance to support LAs to commissioning such services. All children under the age of 16 are entitled to free National Health Service sight tests. Information about the availability of NHS funded sight tests for children is widely available including being publicised on the NHS website (formerly NHS Choices). The NHS Business Services Authority also provides information on eligibility for NHS funded sight tests. Optical practices providing NHS sight tests are required to display a notice and a leaflet showing the services available under the NHS as well as listing the groups who are entitled to free NHS funded sight tests.

Eyesight: Children

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that the Personal Child Health Record includes information that (a) parents and carers can take children to an optometrist for regular eye examinations and (b) children under 16 years old are entitled to NHS-funded sight tests and an optical voucher.

Steve Brine: The Personal Child Health Record, also known as the PCHR or 'red book', is a national standard health and development record given to parents/carers at a child's birth. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is responsible for overseeing the content of the PCHR. Further information on the PCHR is available at the following link:https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/personal-child-health-record-pchrIn November 2013 the United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) re-affirmed its recommendation that child vision screening between four and five years of age should be offered by an orthoptic-led service. Vision defects looked for in the school age screening test should include amblyopia and refractive error. The UK NSC were aware of issues around quality and consistency of the current vision screening service in the UK and in October 2017 published a suite of resources to help improve quality and provision of service in all four countries; these are available to view at the following link:https://phescreening.blog.gov.uk/2017/10/24/vision-screening-comes-of-age-new-resources-now-available/

Health Professions: Pay

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS England (a) nurses, (b) doctors and (c) allied healthcare professionals are employed on salaries below £30,000 per year in each (a) hospital and (b) NHSTrust; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers. The attached table shows the number of doctors, nurses and health visitors and allied healthcare professional staff whose total earnings are under £30,000 in National Health Service trusts, CCGs, Support Organisations and Central Bodies in England, between October 2017 and September 2018, headcount. These figures use the total annual earnings of staff which includes basic pay and non-basic pay elements. Non-basic pay includes, where applicable, unsocial hours payments, on call payments and high cost area supplements. These figures also include staff working on a part time basis, who tend to have lower annual earnings than those on full time contracts. It is possible that if a part time member of staff worked full time, they would earn more than £30,000.



PQ211283 attached data
(Excel SpreadSheet, 31.26 KB)

NHS: Drugs

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England will take to encourage the uptake of innovative and cost-effective medicines as set out in the 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access.

Steve Brine: The 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access contains ambitions to improve patients’ outcomes and the health gain from medicines spend by simplifying, streamlining and improving access, pricing and uptake arrangements for cost-effective medicines; and delivering faster adoption of the most clinically and cost-effective medicines.This will be supported by changes to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s value assessment of new products, availability of increased commercial flexibility, and support for the National Health Service to increase uptake where appropriate. Use of products, particularly those which provide greatest health gain for patients, will be monitored and reviewed through this scheme. NHS England is developing a cohesive commercial framework to support this.

NHS: Redundancy Pay

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost per staff member has been of redundancy payments in the NHS since May 2010; what the largest individual redundancy payment has been for that period; how many such redundancies involved an individual redundancy payment of over (a) £50,000, (b) £100,000 and (c) £200,000; and what the total cost to the public purse has been of those redundancies.

Stephen Hammond: The following table shows the average cost of exit packages per staff member in each financial year from 2010 to 2018:Financial year ending 31 MarchAverage cost of exit packages (£)201151,136201243,431201336,567201429,945201533,021201626,877201720,800201820,841 Information on the largest individual redundancy payment since May 2010 is not held  The following table shows the number and total cost of exit packages by cost banding in each financial year from 2010 to 2018: £50,001 to £100,000£100,001 to £200,000Over £200,000NumberCost (£ million)NumberCost (£ million)NumberCost (£ million)201187588.338078.65686.22012739152.630440.26918.720131,23788.957580.513136.1201480456.327236.2338.6201564744.829040.27920.3201650335.718925.2177.2201732022.814719.730.6201834224.113719.051.3

Mental Health Services: Training

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of mental health counsellors who have undertaken Improving Access to Psychological Therapies training in each year for which data is available.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested.

NHS Trusts: Greater London

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral contribution of 7 January 2019, Official Report, column 84, on NHS Long Term Plan, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich with further details of the effect of changes to the market forces factor on funding for NHS Trusts in London to be allocated as part of the Plan.

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to the market forces factor on future funding for NHS Trust and Clinical Commissioning Groups in London.

Stephen Hammond: NHS England is responsible for decisions on the weighted capitation formula used to allocate resources between clinical commissioning group (CCGs). NHS England take advice from the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation, a group of academics and other experts. This process is independent of Government. The CCG allocation formula takes account of unavoidable cost differences between areas by applying the Market Forces Factor (MFF) to all services except for prescribing. The MFF has not been updated in nearly ten years so it was right that this has been reviewed as part of the changes made in the Long Term Plan. NHS England and Improvement are responsible for updating the methodology and underlying data used to calculate the MFF. The proposed changes would result in changes in income and allocations for some providers and commissioners. Changes would be implemented over five years to phase the impact on providers. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will write to the hon. Member shortly.

NHS: Agency Workers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 7 of the NAO Report of 18 January 2019 on NHS financial stability, what assessment his Department has made of the additional cost of agency staff as a result of staff shortages.

Stephen Hammond: The Department recognises that staff shortages can mean trusts are required to recruit temporary staff through agencies to maintain safe staffing levels. Whilst a certain degree of temporary staffing is desirable to efficiently manage variable demand, engaging these staff through recruitment agencies is expensive, meaning trusts cannot always secure value for money. To manage this cost, we are working with NHS Improvement to implement a number of measures to reduce agency expenditure and to support trusts to develop their own in-house staff banks, whereby individuals directly employed by the National Health Service can be deployed to fill a temporary shift, avoiding agency commission and the premium often charged by agencies. As a result of this work, total agency expenditure across NHS trusts in England has fallen from a peak of £3.6 billion in 2015/16 to £2.4 billion in 2017/18 – a £1.2 billion reduction. The NHS Improvement Agency Programme is committed to further reducing agency spend by monitoring trusts’ compliance with the Agency Rules and supporting them to develop their in-house banks in a way that makes better use of workforce deployment technology, such as e-rostering and acuity modelling.

Genito-urinary Medicine: Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the research undertaken by The King’s Fund published on 30 December 2018, for what reason there has been a 13 per cent reduction in funding for sexual health services between 2013 and 2017 despite an increase in attendance for those services.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the research entitled Sexual health services and the importance of prevention, published by the King’s Fund  30 December 2018, for what reason there has been a 13 per cent reduction in funding for those services.

Steve Brine: It is for local authorities to assess local needs, and to secure services to meet those needs in line with their statutory responsibilities which include provision of open access sexual health services. Local authorities determine levels of spending on individual services they commission.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the The Nuffield Trust paper published on 30 December 2018, what steps his Department is taking to address the increased likelihood that patients residing in deprived areas will be admitted as an emergency compared to those in less deprived areas.

Stephen Hammond: The Department has noted the Nuffield Trust’s blog ‘Are parts of England 'left behind' by the NHS?’. The Government wants to ensure everyone from all walks of life has the same opportunity for a long, healthy life. The Department’s prevention vision puts prevention at the heart of the nation’s health, shifting the focus from treatment of individual conditions to improving long term health and putting more resource into primary and community care. The NHS Long Term Plan sets out how the National Health Service will develop over the coming years and take stronger action surrounding health inequalities. NHS England has committed to ensuring a higher share of funding goes towards geographies with high health inequalities. This funding is estimated to be worth over £1 billion by 2023/24. Additionally, NHS England will commission the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation to conduct and publish a review of the inequalities adjustment to the funding formulae.

NHS: Re-employment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff have been made redundant and subsequently re-employed by NHS organisations on a (a) permanent basis and (b) fixed-term contract basis since May 2010.

Stephen Hammond: The following table shows the number of redundancies from 2010/11 financial year to 2017/18 financial year and those subsequently re-employed up to the end of September 2018. As time goes by the numbers of those returning is likely to increase in relation to those made redundant in previous years. YearRedundanciesReturnedReturned on Permanent contractReturned on Fixed-Term contract2010/115,5211,3837905932011/126,8201,6761,0086682012/136,7501,6241,0156092013/144,6371,1327743582014/153,6908565672892015/163,2216904552352016/172,4054683121562017/182,243363230133 These estimates are derived from un-validated data from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Data Warehouse, and so only cover redundancies from, and re-employment to, those organisations that use the ESR. The ESR Data Warehouse is a monthly snap shot of the live ESR system, which is the HR and payroll system that covers all National Health Service employees other than those working in general practice, two NHS foundation trusts that have chosen not to use the system, and organisations to which functions have been transferred, such as local authorities. In cases where an individual has been made redundant on more than one occasion only the first redundancy is counted. In cases where an individual returns more than once only the first case after the redundancy is included.

NHS: Redundancy

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on NHS staff redundancies in each financial year since 2010; and if he will publish an anonymised list detailing the value of each individual redundancy payment.

Stephen Hammond: The following table shows the cost of National Health Service exit packages in each financial year from 2010 to 2018:Financial year ending 31 MarchTotal cost of exit packages (£ million)2011475.72012417.32013429.72014180.22015178.12016122.1201791.0201889.6 The list detailing the value of individual redundancy payments since April 2010 is not held.

General Practitioners

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the proposals in the NHS Long Term Plan for online GP appointments, what steps his Department is taking to ensure health services remain accessible to people without internet access.

Steve Brine: Online appointments are being developed to enhance and support existing general practice services and will give patients more choice on how they access services. This approach is in addition to not a substitute for more traditional ways of seeing a general practitioner or nurse at a patient’s own registered practice. Patients who do not wish to use this way of accessing services are still able to get a face to face or telephone appointments. Everyone across the country can now also access general practice appointments in the evenings and weekends, which will provide an estimated nine million additional appointments per year. This means that patients can see a doctor, nurse or other member of the practice team at a time that is convenient to them, 365 days per years including on bank holidays.

Lung Diseases

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) detect and diagnose lung disease earlier and (b) support people with chronic respiratory conditions to manage their health.

Steve Brine: The Government is committed to improving the lives of those with respiratory disease.Respiratory disease is a clinical priority within the recently published NHS Long Term Plan. This has the overarching objective of improving outcomes for people with respiratory disease. The Long Term Plan sets out how the National Health Service will take action in a number of areas. This includes expanding programmes that support earlier diagnosis of respiratory disease including the pioneering lung health checks trialled in Manchester and Liverpool; increasing access to proven treatments such as pulmonary rehabilitation (a structured exercise and education programme for those with chronic respiratory disease and breathlessness); and improving support for those with chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma to receive and use the correct medications.The NHS Long Term Plan will build on a range of existing national initiatives focussed on the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory disease, some of which are detailed below.The NHS Outcomes Framework sets out the Department’s priority areas for the NHS, and includes reducing deaths from respiratory disease as a key indicator.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes quality standards that define best practice and areas in need of improvement for a range of respiratory illnesses including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, with the aim of raising the standard of care that people with these conditions receive. NICE quality standards cover both diagnosis and treatment.The NHS RightCare COPD pathway is being rolled out nationally through clinical commissioning groups and defines the core components of an optimal service for people with COPD. This includes timely access to pulmonary rehabilitation as part of the optimal treatment pathway.The Department and NHS England are supportive of the National Asthma and COPD Audit Programme. Launched in March 2018 and led by the Royal College of Physicians, this programme aims to improve quality of care, services, and clinical outcomes for patients with asthma and COPD by collecting and providing data on a range of indicators.Furthermore, NHS England commissions treatments for rare or complex respiratory conditions through the Specialised Respiratory Clinical Reference Group, which is chaired by Professor Mike Morgan. This includes specialist treatment for pulmonary hypertension, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and severe asthma among other conditions.The Department also funds research on respiratory illnesses through the National Institute for Health Research.

Lung Diseases

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding will be allocated to the respiratory programme set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Steve Brine: NHS England is not able to release exact figures at present.The National Implementation Framework, to be published in the spring, will provide further information on how the Long Term Plan will be implemented. Further details, based on local health system five year plans, will be brought together in a detailed national implementation plan in the autumn.

NHS: Waiting Lists

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, over what time period targets will be met for (a) a four hour maximum wait at accident and emergency, (b) a maximum 18 week wait for non-urgent consultant-led treatments and planned operations, (c) cancer care within 62 days of referral, (d) mental health therapy within six weeks and (e) other statutory access standards in (i) Brighton and Hove and (ii) England; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The Government’s Mandate to NHS England for 2018-19 is that NHS England should meet agreed core standards, including accident and emergency, referral to treatment and cancer waiting times. A further Mandate deliverable is to embed access and waiting time standards for mental health services for Early Intervention in Psychosis, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies and eating disorders. The Mandate is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/691998/nhse-mandate-2018-19.pdf NHS England’s ‘Operational and Planning Guidance for 2019/20’ sets out deliverables against key performance areas and the Government expects the National Health Service to deliver these actions set – in full – as key steps toward fully recovering performance against core access standards. It is for NHS commissioners and providers locally to work together to manage demand and plan sufficient capacity to achieve and maintain statutory access standards.

Fibromyalgia

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support families with members who have fibromyalgia syndrome.

Steve Brine: The Department is committed to making sure people with long term conditions receive the personalised care and support they need. Where suitable, loved ones and carers should be involved in tailoring care options.Last summer the Department published a Carers Action Plan, setting out a cross-Government programme of targeted work to support carers over the next two years and will also ensure a clear focus on carers in the forthcoming Adult Social Care Green Paper. The Department is clear that planning for people with long term conditions should involve loved ones and carers. The aim is supporting carers to provide care as they would wish, and to do so in a way that supports their own health and wellbeing.As set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, NHS England is taking action in range of areas to improve the care treatment and support provided to people with neurological conditions including rolling out the NHS Comprehensive Model of Personalised Care across the country, reaching 2.5 million people by 2023/24.

NHS: Drugs

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times he has used his powers under the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017 to impose lower prices on unbranded generic or off-patent medicines sold to the NHS; and how many companies have had lowered prices as a result of those powers.

Steve Brine: The Department has not used its powers under the NHS Act 2006, as amended by the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017, to limit prices of generic medicines. The Department continues to work with the Competition and Markets Authority on the cases they are taking forward. It has also put in place the Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018 that support its price setting powers. It is currently preparing a consultation with industry representative bodies on proposals for implementation of the price setting powers.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) procurement processes his Department has run for contracts for after the UK leaves the EU since 23 June 2016 and (b) bids his Department has received from suppliers for services for after the UK has left the EU.

Stephen Hammond: The Department uses BravoAdvantage e-procurement system for running procurement processes. This system captures all procurement activity where the strategic procurement team is involved. BravoAdvantage was introduced in December 2017, therefore only procurements after this date can be extracted. There are 29 contracts that extend beyond the date the United Kingdom plans to leave the European Union. There were 161 tender responses in respect of those contracts.

NHS: Drugs

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS' spend on unbranded generic or off-patent medicines has reduced since the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017 came into force.

Steve Brine: Spend on generic medicines in primary care went down by 4% in 2017/18 compared to 2016/17 whilst the number of items dispensed remained broadly stable.

Drugs: Price Controls

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times his Department imposed financial penalties on pharmaceutical companies for failure to comply with regulations under the Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017 for (a) exceeding a price cap and (b) failure to record or provide requested information under a statutory scheme.

Steve Brine: The Department has not imposed any penalties under regulations made under any powers in the NHS Act 2006 as amended by the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017.

NHS: Migrant Workers

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many EEA nationals from countries other than the UK were employed in the NHS in each year since 2015.

Stephen Hammond: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers. The following table shows the headcount figures for all HCHS staff in England who have specified an European Economic Area (EEA) nationality as at 30 September for each of the years specified.  2015201620172018HCHS staff who have specified an EEA nationality371401432467HCHS staff who have specified an EU27 nationality52,80859,79661,97463,484Source: National Health Service HCHS quarterly workforce statistics, NHS Digital

Diabetes: Young People

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people under 21 years old have developed Type 2 diabetes in each of the last five years in each region of England.

Steve Brine: The following table shows the number of people who were diagnosed with ‘Type 2 or other diabetes’ when aged 20 years or under in each of the five calendar years 2013 to 2017, by Strategic Clinical Network.Strategic Clinical Network20132014201520162017East Midlands3045656575East of England5580708585Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire2545355560London100115135135170North West Coast - Cheshire Warrington and Wirral1510101510North West Coast - Lancashire and South Cumbria1520252525North West Coast - Merseyside1510151510Northern England Clinical Network3535405050South East3040455560South West4040457065Thames Valley2520303035Wessex3025304050West Midlands80809095140Yorkshire and The Humber80758595110No clinical commissioning group available in the data to map to Clinical Network1015152535Source: National Diabetes Audit (NDA) Note:Disclosure control has been applied to all figures, as per the NDA publication - all numbers are rounded to the nearest 5, unless the number is 1 to 7, in which case it is rounded to ‘5’.

NHS: Drugs

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an (a) assessment of the equity of the level of remuneration for special medicinal products sold to the NHS and (b) estimate of what is an equitable amount of remuneration; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: In the period from December 2017 to November 2018, the Department spent £65 million on specials in primary care in England. That is 0.7% of spend on medicines in primary care. Spend on specials has reduced significantly since 2010 when it was £136 million. This is the consequence of a reduction in the prescribing of specials and the introduction of reimbursement prices for the most commonly prescribed specials. Specials listed with a price in the Drug Tariff incentivise community pharmacies to source the special at the lowest price possible which creates a competitive market and reduces costs. Out of the £65 million spent on specials in 2018, £20 million was spent on specials listed with a price in the Drug Tariff covering more than half of the items dispensed. The Department aims to include more specials with a reimbursement price in the Drug Tariff and seek alternative arrangements for specials that are not commonly prescribed and therefore cannot be listed with a reimbursement price. Potential savings will depend on the specials which can be listed with a Drug Tariff reimbursement price and the approach taken for those which cannot.

Prime Minister

Ulster Unionist Party

Peter Grant: To ask the Prime Minister, on how many occasions she has held meetings with representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party to discuss the Northern Ireland Backstop in 2019; and when she plans to next hold a meeting with that party on that matter.

Peter Grant: To ask the Prime Minister, on how many occasions she met representatives of Sinn Fein to discuss the Northern Ireland backstop proposal in the Withdrawal Agreement; and when the next such meeting is due to take place in 2019.

Peter Grant: To ask the Prime Minister, on how many occasions she has held meetings with representatives of the Social Democratic and Labour Party Party  to discuss the Northern Ireland Backstop in 2019; and when she plans to next hold a meeting with that party on that matter.

Peter Grant: To ask the Prime Minister, on how many occasions in 2019 she  met representatives of the Democratic Unionist Party to discuss the Northern Ireland backstop proposals in the Withdrawal Agreement; and when the next such meeting is due to take place.

Peter Grant: To ask the Prime Minister, on how many occasions she has held meetings with representatives of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland to discuss the Northern Ireland Backstop in 2019; and when she plans to next hold a meeting with that party on that matter.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the Hon. Member to the Oral Statement I gave on Leaving the European Union on the 21 January 2019, Official Report, Column 25.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Tumours

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many patients diagnosed with terminal brain tumours have been (a) placed in the work-related activity group and (b) required to attend interviews by DWP officers administering benefits.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The honourable lady might be interested to know that people diagnosed with a terminal illness, where as a consequence of that disease their life expectancy is reasonably believed to be six months or less, will not need to have a face-to-face assessment. They will be treated as having limited capability for work-related activity and will be placed in the Employment and Support Allowance Support Group, or Universal Credit equivalent, where they are not required to take part in any work-related activity, including attending interviews with DWP officers. Claims made under these rules have a decision made on their entitlement as quickly as possible.

Universal Credit

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January to Question 208315 on universal credit, which stakeholders her Department is working with to design the managed migration process.

Alok Sharma: The Department is working with a diverse group of around 80 stakeholder organisations to ensure the widest possible range of insights are played into the design of the process to move existing claimants who do not have a change in circumstances onto Universal Credit. The Department is committed to engaging with these stakeholders in a respectful and professional manner and it would not reflect our agreed working relationship of partnership, reciprocation and trust for us to name those stakeholders participating without first seeking their express permission.

Universal Credit

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the recent High Court judgement on universal credit assessments, if she will review the method used to calculate universal credit payments for (a) all claimants and (b) claimants who are paid on a four weekly basis.

Alok Sharma: The Department is carefully considering the High Court’s Judgment and it is therefore not appropriate to comment further at this stage.

Housing Benefit: City of Westminster

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 5 November to Question 907432 on Housing Benefit, how much discretionary housing payment was (a) awarded to and (b) spent by Westminster City Council in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The table below shows the amount awarded to and spent by Westminster City Council in Discretionary Housing Payments in the last 3 financial years: YearAwardedSpent2015/16£2,632,460£2,568,0482016/17£2,669,172£2,557,0922017/18£1,405,376£1,938,110 Figures on the amount of Discretionary Housing Payments awarded to and spent by Local Authorities are available: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/discretionary-housing-payments-statistics

Jobcentres: Sheffield

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional outreach work his Department is undertaking to help claimants as a result of the closure of Eastern Avenue Job Centre in Sheffield.

Alok Sharma: We will be reintroducing a Jobcentre outreach service at both Manor Library and Manor and Castle Development Trust in Sheffield. Work coaches will be based in Manor Library each Wednesday and Manor and Castle Development Trust each Tuesday. Staff from Cavendish Court Jobcentre have been identified for these roles and once each location has completed the necessary risk assessments we will agree a start date for the service. Customers will be notified of the services that will be available, which will include jobsfairs as well as benefits advice. In addition, Sheffield City Council have agreed funding for a construction hub on the Manor to support regeneration. The Department is working with stakeholders to introduce a facility to train local people in construction with the first opportunity starting in February.

Jobcentres: Sheffield

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many mandatory (a) income support and (b) employment and support allowance interviews took place at the Cavendish Court Job Centre in Sheffield in the each of the last three months.

Alok Sharma: The number of mandatory Income Support and Employment and Support Allowance interviews at Cavendish Court Jobcentre in Sheffield in each of the last three months is shown below. Interview TypeMonthNumber of Interviews ESA Mandatory Interviews Oct-2018135 Nov-201861 Dec-201825   Interview TypeMonthNumber of Interviews IS Mandatory InterviewsOct-2018273 Nov-201866 Dec-201810 Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.

Jobcentres: Sheffield

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to allocate additional work to the Sheffield service centre once it is no longer administering employment and support allowance and work and social funds.

Alok Sharma: An announcement was made to staff at Sheffield Service Centre on Thursday 24 January 2019 to explain the Service Centre will become an Employment and Support Allowance office for the foreseeable future. With regard to the allocation of additional work to Sheffield Service Centre, there will be significant planning taking place over the next few years, including deciding where work and specialised functions will be delivered as legacy benefit work ends.

Personal Independence Payment: Hyperactivity

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants with ADHD have been assessed as ineligible for personal independence payment.

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants with autism have been assessed as ineligible for personal independence payment.

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants with drug and alcohol problems have been assessed as ineligible for personal independence payment.

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants with anxiety and depression or low mood have been assessed as ineligible for personal  independence payment.

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants with behavioural disorders have been assessed as ineligible for personal independence payment.

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants with fibromyalgia have been assessed as ineligible for personal independence payment.

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants with multiple sclerosis have been assessed as ineligible for personal independence payment.

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants with borderline personality disorder have been assessed as ineligible for personal independence payment.

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability living allowance claimants with bi-polar disorder have been assessed as ineligible for the personal independence payment.

Sarah Newton: The Department publishes a range of detailed statistics for PIP on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk .Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. These statistics include monthly clearances (decisions) since PIP was introduced in April 2013. Clearance figures can be broken down by clearance type (e.g. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed pre-referral to an assessment provider, disallowed at assessment or withdrawn), by reassessment type (i.e. whether the claimant was making a new claim or was undergoing a Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment) and by main disabling condition. Note that main disabling condition is only recorded for claims which reach the assessment stage. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which their entitlement decision is based but only the main disabling condition is recorded and shown in these statistics. Main disabling condition is the disability recorded on the PIP administrative system. It is possible that a reassessment claim could have a different main disabling condition recorded on the DLA and PIP systems. With regard to your question relating to “Behavioural Disorders” we advise that you group together the Disability Subgroups, “Conduct disorder (including oppositional defiant disorder)” and “Hyperkinetic Disorder – ADHD/ADD.” For the question relating to borderline personality disorder select Personality Disorder.

Social Security Benefits

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2018 to Question 184858, if she will place in the Library a copy of the brief for the quantitative longitudinal research by the National Centre for Social Research into the impact of the Benefit Cap and the qualitative case studies of local authorities.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department intends to publish this research in Spring 2019. The research publication will include all topic guides and questionnaires used in the research, and an overview of the original research brief.The quantitative survey of claimants carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (Natcen), an independent research agency was delivered over two waves, to explore how claimant responses to the cap had changed over time. Wave one was conducted approximately seven months after implementation of the new cap, with 1,900 claimants interviewed. The sample included claimants affected by the cap under both legacy benefit and Universal Credit arrangements, across Great Britain. Wave two was conducted approximately six months later, with over 800 of those same claimants. The survey included questions on the following topics:Awareness of the cap and current cap statusImpacts of the cap on employment and employment related behaviourImpacts of the cap on claimants housing and housing related behaviourAwareness and use of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs)Barriers faced by claimants regarding employment and housing changesBroader impacts of the cap (including upon health, relationships and finances)Use of available advice and support servicesFor the qualitative, case study strand Natcen invited people working at a range of Local Authorities, Jobcentre Plus and local advice and support organisations to take part in research interviews. Local organisations included family support charities, financial charities and credit unions, housing and homelessness support organisations, housing associations, information and advice providing services, women’s charities, food banks and legal charities. The focus of these interviews was on experiences of the introduction of the lower, tiered Benefit Cap and the impacts it had on the services they delivered, and upon claimants affected by the cap. Forty-two interviews were conducted across the six case study areas.

Housing Benefit

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2018 to Question 184856 on Housing Benefit, if he will publish the methodology that will be used to determine the allocation of discretionary housing payment funding to local authorities for people affected by the benefit cap in 2019-20.

Justin Tomlinson: We will publish the methodology used to determine the benefit cap funding stream for Discretionary Housing Payment Government allocations for 2019/20. We have consulted local authorities about the methodology and will be publishing individual allocations shortly.

Independent Case Examiner

Ms Karen Buck: Too ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to allow complainants to ask their Member of Parliament to refer their complaint to the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman if the Independent Case Examiner has not reached a substantive decision on their complaint within six months.

Justin Tomlinson: It is open to Members of Parliament to refer complaints to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman at any time they choose, regardless of whether the Independent Case Examiner’s process has been exhausted. The decision as to whether to accept them without an Independent Case Examiner’s investigation rests with the Ombudsman’s office.

Universal Credit

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her speech entitled, Universal Credit: personal welfare, delivered on 11 January 2019, if she will publish the evidential basis for 60 per cent of payments to couples claiming universal credit are paid into the woman’s bank account.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her speech entitled, Universal Credit: personal welfare, delivered on 11 January 2019, how many recipients of universal credit where payments are made to the woman’s bank account (a) have and (b) do not have children.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her speech entitled, Universal Credit: personal welfare, delivered on 11 January 2019, how many recipients of universal credit where the woman is the payee are recorded as lead carers in relation to their claimant commitment.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with referenced to her speech entitled Universal Credit: personal welfare delivered on 11 January 2019, how many recipients of universal credit where payments go to the woman’s bank account are in paid work.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing Benefit and State Pension Credit (Temporary Absence) (Amendment) Regulations 2016

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons her Department redefined abroad in the Housing Benefit (Temporary Absence) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 to include Northern Ireland.

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department made an estimate of the financial saving that would be achieved by redefining abroad in the Housing Benefit (Temporary Absence) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 to include Northern Ireland.

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department’s response to the Social Security Advisory Committee on the Housing Benefit (Temporary Absence) (Amendment) Regulations 2016, what assessment she has made of the effect of redefining abroad to include Northern Ireland on those claimants with elderly parents living in that country.

Justin Tomlinson: It is a basic condition of entitlement for State Pension Credit and Housing Benefit to be in Great Britain. The Housing Benefit and State Pension Credit (Temporary Absence) Regulations 2016 did not change that condition. The regulations did, however, amend the length of time that a person could be absent from Great Britain, for example, travelling to Northern Ireland, whilst maintaining entitlement to Pension Credit and Housing Benefit. There was no change to either the meaning of Great Britain or of being abroad for the purposes of entitlement to Pension Credit and Housing Benefit.

State Retirement Pensions: Uprating

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Government's policy is on whether all UK citizens living in the EU after 29 March 2019 and in receipt of a UK state pension will benefit from annual uprating of state pensions irrespective of whether all EU countries make reciprocal arrangement; and if he will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: The UK State Pension will continue to be payable worldwide when the UK leaves the EU. Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, we have the basis on which to maintain State Pension up-rating when the UK exits the EU for those who are already receiving their UK State Pension as well as future UK State Pension recipients. We will wish to discuss State Pension up-rating for individuals not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement in future talks. As the Government set out in its Policy Paper ‘Citizens’ Rights – EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU’ we wish to secure continued reciprocal arrangements covering the up-rating of State Pensions even in the event of a no deal exit. If we exit the EU in these circumstances, we will up-rate the UK State Pension for those living in the EU in 2019-20.

Severe Disability Premium

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of (a) employment support allowance, (b) job seeker's allowance and (c) income support received the severe disability premium on (i) 31 December 2016, (ii) 31 December 2017 and (iii) 31 December 2018.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Independent Case Examiner

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) is requesting an updated form of authority from people whose advocate submitted a current form of authority when first escalating the complaint to ICE but whose complaint has not been investigated because of the 40-week average time period to allocate cases to an investigator.

Justin Tomlinson: In order to ensure that the personal information of complainants is only divulged to current, authorised advocates, the Independent Case Examiner’s Office undertake routine checks to ensure that the advocate retains authority to act on the complainant’s behalf, at the point the complaint is allocated for investigation. The only cases that are not subject to such checks are those referred by Members of Parliament.

Universal Credit

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has received advice from the Information Commissioner on whether implicit consent in universal credit would violate data protection laws.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee’s recommendations of October 2018 on the draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018, when the Government plans to review explicit consent within Universal Credit in collaboration with that Committee; and if they will publish a report on that review.

Alok Sharma: We have agreed to explore options for improving the process of explicit consent in relation to Universal Credit in collaboration with the Social Security Advisory Committee. DWP officials will be meeting with them on 30th January to consider how current practices could be enhanced. We will then publish a report on our joint conclusions.

State Retirement Pensions: Uprating

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to uprate the 25 pence age addition for pensioners over 80 who are currently entitled to it; and whether the Government has any plans to provide further financial assistance to pensioners who are over 80 years old.

Guy Opperman: The age addition is paid with State Pension when individuals reach the age of 80. Although there are no plans to uprate the age addition amount, this should be considered alongside the range of other measures and benefits that are available to pensioners over age 80. This includes Pension Credit. People who are aged 80 and over receive a Winter Fuel Payment of £300, instead of the standard Winter Fuel Payment of £200 for pensioners below that age. Additionally, the non-contributory Category D State Pension is available to those aged over 80 with either no entitlement to a basic State Pension or who are entitled to State Pension of less than £75.50 per week who meet the residency conditions.

Home Office

EU Justice and Home Affairs

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has for alternative arrangements for (a) Schengen Information System II, (b) European Arrest Warrant, (c) European Criminal Records Information System, (d) Europol, (e) Eurojust  and (f) European Investigation Orders in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Nick Hurd: The continued safety and security of both UK and EU citizens remains our top priority.That is why we are preparing for all eventualities – including a no deal scenario in which the current mechanisms we use to cooperate with EU Member States are not available when we exit the EU in March 2019.The alternative arrangements for the EU ‘tools’ in question would include making more use of Interpol, Council of Europe Conventions and other forms of cooperation with European partners, such as bilateral channels

Unexplained Wealth Orders

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, how many Unexplained Wealth Orders have been invoked in each month since they were introduced.

Mr Ben Wallace: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 25 January 2019.The correct answer should have been:

The Home Office does not comment on particular cases. The SFO investigates and prosecutes only the most serious or complex fraud, bribery and corruption cases.The decision to commence an investigation is that of the Director alone. Government cannot interfere with the operational independence of investigative or prosecutorial agencies. As new tools, it is important that courts and law enforcement establishes the use and process to ensure that they deliver the correct objectives.Three UWOs have been applied for, and all granted, since the UWO power came into force in January. The UWOs concern two assets under one investigation in relation to an Azerbaijan national. As new tools, it is important that courts and law enforcement establishes the use and process to ensure that they deliver the correct objectives.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Home Office does not comment on particular cases. The SFO investigates and prosecutes only the most serious or complex fraud, bribery and corruption cases.The decision to commence an investigation is that of the Director alone. Government cannot interfere with the operational independence of investigative or prosecutorial agencies. As new tools, it is important that courts and law enforcement establishes the use and process to ensure that they deliver the correct objectives.Three UWOs have been applied for, and all granted, since the UWO power came into force in January. The UWOs concern two assets under one investigation in relation to an Azerbaijan national. As new tools, it is important that courts and law enforcement establishes the use and process to ensure that they deliver the correct objectives.

Sexually Transmitted Infections: Crime

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has plans to provide police with additional powers police to assist investigations into cases involving the deliberate transmission of sexual diseases.

Mr Nick Hurd: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 24 January 2019.The correct answer should have been:

There is no specific offence of deliberately transmitting a sexual disease. This behaviour can be charged under Sections 18 and 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.There are no current plans to make persons convicted of these offences subject to notification requirements (commonly referred to as being placed on the Sex Offenders Register).Where an allegation is made to the police of deliberate transmission of a sexual disease, the police already have powers to investigate under Sections 18 and 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

Mr Nick Hurd: There is no specific offence of deliberately transmitting a sexual disease. This behaviour can be charged under Sections 18 and 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.There are no current plans to make persons convicted of these offences subject to notification requirements (commonly referred to as being placed on the Sex Offenders Register).Where an allegation is made to the police of deliberate transmission of a sexual disease, the police already have powers to investigate under Sections 18 and 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which agencies and bodies outside of Government will have access to the data of non-UK EU citizens who register under the settled status scheme.

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to protect the data of non-UK EU citizens who register under the settled status scheme.

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what purposes the data of non-UK EU citizens who register under the settled status scheme will be shared with organisations outside his Department.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office is the data controller for all data processed within the EU Settlement Scheme, this includes where organisations are contracted to act on behalf of the Home Office as the Home Office. No other organisations have access to the personal information of applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme. The Home Office may however share information with other organisations, but only where the information needs to be shared and there is an appropriate legal basis for doing so. Further detail on this is set out in the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship System privacy information notice:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-information-use-in-borders-immigration-and-citizenship.The Home Office takes its data security and data protection obligations ex-tremely seriously. There are processes in place in the Home Office for the capturing and mitigation of risks and vulnerabilities to ensure appropriate con-trol of our services. I can confirm this is the case for the EU Settlement SchemeAll Home Office systems including EU Exit applications undergo rigorous cyber assessments prior to launch. This includes an independent security testing to ensure they are resilient to external attack.Our IT systems hosting platform include a number of mechanisms to detect and respond to malicious intrusions.All data is encrypted both in transit and at rest. Our IT staff are security cleared and your data will only be accessed by those who have a valid business reason to access it. The Home Office regularly monitors the systems for abuse and misuse.With this non-exhaustive list of measures, we protect the data of non-UK EU citizens who register under the Settlement Scheme.

Home Office: Vacancies

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of his staff leave their respective posts on an annual basis; how many vacant posts there are in his Department; and what proportion of posts in his Department are currently vacant.

Victoria Atkins: The Department records actual staffing levels but does not centrally record the number of posts or vacancies. It is therefore not possible to provide details of vacant posts. The level of turnover within the Department is currently 5.35% per annum.Turnover represents the number of staff that leave the Home Office, voluntarily or otherwise, i.e. through resignation or dismissal.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme

Kirstene Hair: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress he has made on the roll-out of the pilot Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme.

Caroline Nokes: The roll-out of the Seasonal Workers Pilot remains on track and will be implemented in spring this year. A commencement date for the pilot will be announced in the coming weeks.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to support people to prove their eligibility for settled status.

Caroline Nokes: The EU Settlement Scheme provides a simple, streamlined process for resident EU citizens and their family members to obtain their new UK immigration status. The application process draws on existing government data, to minimise the need for applicants to provide evidence of their UK residence. Caseworkers will work with applicants to help them to establish their eligibility under the scheme from the evidence they have, and they will be able to exercise discretion in favour of applicants where appropriate, to minimise administrative burdens.Arrangements are also being developed to provide a range of support, offered by the Home Office and through third parties such as community groups and charities, to help vulnerable applicants in applying for status under the scheme.

Immigration: Zimbabwe

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Government of Zimbabwe on linking trade and aid agreements with decreasing immigration from Zimbabwe to the UK.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Secretary has not had discussions with Cabinet colleagues or the Government of Zimbabwe to the effect of this question.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the process is for the reimbursement of fees paid by non-UK EU nationals for applications for settled status; and how that process will be communicated to those non-UK EU nationals.

Caroline Nokes: As the Prime Minister announced on 21 January anyone who has already applied for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or who applies and pays a fee during the pilot phases, will have their fee refunded.The Home Office will set out full details in due course.

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether foetal alcohol spectrum disorders will be covered in his department's alcohol strategy.

Victoria Atkins: The Government recognises that foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) can have a significant impact on the early years development of children and their life chances. The Department for Health and Social Care is continuing to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking alcohol while pregnant by working with PHE, NHS England, local commissioners, royal colleges and regulatory bodies.

Visas

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many tier one visas the Home Office issued in (a) 2018, (b) 2017, (c) 2016, (d) 2015 and (e) 2014.

Caroline Nokes: Information on Tier 1 entry clearance visa applications and outcomes (grant-ed, refused, withdrawn, lapsed) is published on a quarterly basis in the Home Office’s ‘Immigration Statistics’, Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q, latest edition at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018/list-of-tables#visasCorresponding data for Q4 (October to December) 2018 is planned to be published on 28 February 2019.

Home Office: Contracts

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which service providers are contracted to carry out third party cleaning contracts for his (a) Department and (b) executive agencies; if he will list all of the services delivered by third party contractors to his (i) Department and (ii) executive agencies; and how many people working for those third party contractors are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Victoria Atkins: Cleaning services for the Home Office and its executive agencies are out-sourced. The cleaning services for the majority of the Home Office estate are contracted out to Interserve and OCS. The cleaning of the department’s headquarters at 2 Marsham Street is the responsibility of the PFI provider. The Home Office is not able to provide information regarding third party contractors and any sub-contractors to these without incurring dispropor-tionate cost, noting the wide range of services that could be in scope such as Overseas VACs, Transportation in IE/BF environment, provision for Premium Services and othersThe Home Office does not hold data about what contractors payThe Home Office requires all of its suppliers to comply with the legal mini-mum standards of pay as set out in the Government’s National Living Wage legislation. This is a contractual obligation on the supplier and is monitored through contract compliance mechanisms. We do not plan to require or stipulate in our contractual arrangements a requirement to meet the Living Wage Foundation’s rates.

Knife Crime Community Fund

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding remains available from the 2018-19 Knife Crime Prevention fund; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces have been successful in bids to the 2018-19 Knife Crime Prevention Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: The anti-knife crime Community Fund is part of the Government’s commit-ment in its Serious Violence Strategy on early intervention and prevention to tackle knife crime. The fund is open only to voluntary and community sector groups to apply. Police forces are not eligible to applyIn year 1 (2017-18) we funded 47 successful projects and a further 68 in year 2 (2018-19). We announced the successful 68 bids on 2 August 2018 with total funding of £1.5 million. All monies have been allocated and work to deliver the interventions is ongoing. The following links contain the list of pro-jects funded in years 1 and 2:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707629/successful_bids_knife_crime.csv/previewhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/734836/anti_knife_fund.csv/preview

Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timetable is for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in full.

Victoria Atkins: The Government signed the Istanbul Convention to signal the UK’s strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG). On 30 October 2018, in line with the requirements of the Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017, we published a progress report which set out that, in most respects, the UK already complies with, or goes further than, the Convention requires. We have significantly strengthened the legislative framework; introduced new protective tools; and issued a range of guidance and support for frontline professionals.We have always been clear on our commitment to ratifying the Convention. The Domestic Abuse Bill will be another step towards meeting that commitment by extending extraterritorial jurisdiction over offences required by the Convention which, for England and Wales, is the final legislative step necessary for ratification. We published the Domestic Abuse Bill in draft form for pre-legislative scrutiny on 21 January 2019.As the criminal law and the majority of the areas covered by the Convention are devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Devolved Administrations are considering what legislative or other changes are necessary for compliance with the Convention in their territories. The Government liaises regularly with the Devolved Administrations on VAWG issues and we will continue working closely with the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive.

Immigration: Public Consultation

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) timetable and (b) scope of his Department’s consultation on the Immigration White Paper 2018 will be.

Caroline Nokes: The Government published its White Paper “The UK’s future skills-based immigration system” (Cm 9722) on 19 December 2018. The Home Office has now launched a year-long engagement process to enable businesses and other stakeholders to shape the final details of policy and processes.

Immigration: Public Consultation

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the document entitled, the UK’s future skills-based immigration system whether she has plans to undertake a public consultation on Chapter 10, Protecting the Vulnerable.

Caroline Nokes: The proposals in the Government’s paper “The UK’s future skills-based immigration system” provide a platform for further discussion.

National Police Chiefs' Council: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2019 to Question 207609 on National Police Chiefs' Council: Staff, how many of the 50 personnel being recruited for the International Crime Coordination Centre are in post.

Mr Nick Hurd: As of 23 January, the National Police Chiefs’ Council have filled 34 of the posts in the International Crime Coordination Centre. Recruitment is under-way to fill the remaining posts in advance of exit.

Police: EU Countries

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when specific alternative arrangements will replace (a) the Schengen Information System II, (b) the European Arrest Warrant, (c) the European Criminal Records Information System, (d) intelligence sharing through Europol, (e) Eurojust and (f) European Investigation Orders in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government’s position remains that the agreement reached with the EU, which includes ambitious internal security arrangements, is in the UK’s best interests.In a “no deal” scenario, however, we are working with operational partners to put in place alternative contingency arrangements for each of the EU law enforcement ‘tools’ listed, including making more use of Interpol and Council of Europe arrangements. In the event of no deal, whilst these would not be like-for-like replacements, we are preparing for these alternative mechanisms to operate from exit day.

Police: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department and its operational partners have made of the number of police officers that will be needed to respond to the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Nick Hurd: It is entirely responsible and appropriate that we prepare for every eventuality and we will continue to work closely with all of our operational partners, including the police, on contingency planning to ensure the safety and security of our citizens.Decisions on arrangements for police use and deployment of resources are operational matters for policing and are the responsibility of Chief Constables and not the Home Office.

Asylum and Visas: Applications

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) visa applications and (b) asylum applications were awaiting a decision on 22 January 2019.

Caroline Nokes: All asylum claims lodged in the UK are carefully considered on a case by case basis, based on their individual merits, against a background of relevant case law and up to date country information. The available information for the number of visa applications awaiting a decision up until the end of September 2018, can be found at table Visa_03 of the International Operations Transparency Data at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-november-2018The available information for the number of Asylum Applications awaiting a decision up until the end of September 2018 can be found at table Asy_11 of Asylum Transparency Data at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-november-2018

Immigration: EEA Nationals

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to provide more information on the immigration system that will be in operation for EEA nationals after 29 March 2019 in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Caroline Nokes: In the event of the UK leaving the European Union without a deal, we will continue to run the EU Settlement Scheme for EEA nationals resident in the UK by 29 March 2019. This is consistent the policy paper “Citizens’ Rights – EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU” published by the Department for Exiting the European Union on 6 December 2018.The Immigration Bill will end free movement of EEA nationals to the UK. In a ‘no deal’ scenario we have been clear that there will have to be a period of transition to the future skills-based immigration system. We will set out more information shortly on the arrangements for EEA nationals coming to the UK during this period.

Eurojust and Europol

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will set out what UK's relationship with (a) Europol and (b) Eurojust will be after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government has put forward proposals for an ambitious agreement with the EU that provides a comprehensive framework for our future security, law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation and delivers the capabilities our operational partners need to keep our people safe.These proposals cover Europol, Eurojust and are set out in full in the White Paper on “The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union” published in July 2018.As part of the Political Declaration, the UK and EU have agreed to continue cooperating through Europol and Eurojust in the future. The exact terms of that relationship will be for negotiation.The Future Security Partnership will enable strong operational capabilities to tackle serious crime and terrorism: swift and effective data exchange; fast-track surrender arrangements; and continued close cooperation with Europol and Eurojust.

Drugs: Organised Crime

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle sexual exploitation occurring as a result of county lines activity.

Victoria Atkins: The Government recognises the devastating impact of county lines activity on children and vulnerable people which can include both sexual and criminal exploitation.  The Government has provided £3.6m to establish the new National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) to enhance our cross border intelligence and activity on county lines and to better safeguard and protect victims of county lines. Work is ongoing to protect the exploited and target the offenders, and in its first week of intensification there were 505 arrests and 320 individuals safeguarded. In addition, the Government provides a range of support for county lines victims including: funding Young People’s Advocates in Birmingham, Manchester and London to provide help and support for young people exploited through county lines; funding through the Trusted Relationships fund of £13 million over two years to help foster relationships between frontline professionals and young people at risk of exploitation including county lines; and we have provided £17.7m of funding for 29 projects through the Early Intervention Youth Fund over two years of which six will specifically address those at risk of involvement in county lines and criminal exploitation.

Police: Staff

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Library briefing paper entitled Police Service Strength, published on 16 October 2018, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the level of crime of the 18 per cent reduction in the police workforce between 2010 and 2018.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows crime has reduced by more than a third since 2010, and has remained broadly stable over recent months. However, we recognise the changing and increasing demand on the police, particularly in areas of low-volume high-harm crime like serious violence. We responded by increasing police funding by £460 million in 2018/19, including £280 million from council tax precept. The police workforce statistics released on 24 January show the first year on year increase in police officer numbers in a decade, indicating that Police and Crime Commissioners have been able to protect the front line.For 2019/20, we have proposed a settlement that will see overall funding for the policing system increase by up to £970 million, including council tax precept. Many PCCs are consulting on plans to use this flexibility for significant police officer recruitment.

Educational Testing Service: Assessments

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether anyone has been prosecuted for taking a Toeic English language test as a proxy in place of the actual candidate.

Caroline Nokes: Three individuals have been prosecuted and convicted for criminal offences in connection with taking a TOEIC English Language test as a proxy in place of the actual candidate. These convictions occurred in two separate criminal investigations undertaken by the Home Office.

Passports: Applications

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2019 to Question 207212 on Passports: Applications, how much (a) has been spent and (b) will be spent on radio advertising.

Caroline Nokes: Of the total communications spend outlined previously (PQ 207212), £222,857 has been spent on radio and digital audio advertising. The 30 second advert aimed to raise awareness of the ease and convenience of the online passport renewal service including the £9.50 cost saving it offers for customers.A re-launch of the campaign in the next financial year (2019/20) is being considered, with an estimate of £500,000 forecast for radio and digital audio advertising. However, this activity is dependent on the outcome of the EU Exit withdrawal agreement (in a ‘no deal’ scenario, budget would be re-allocated to activity informing passport holders about the passport validity rules changes).

Police: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the additional £90 million to tackle serious organised crime announced in the provisional police funding settlement 2019-20 will be allocated.

Mr Ben Wallace: The SOC Strategy, published on 1 November 2018, sets out the Government’s response to the full range of serious and organised crime threatsThe priorities for investment for the £90 million announced in the provisional police funding settlement 2019-20 will be geared toward delivering the SOC Strategy. Home Office officials are in discussions with operational colleagues on how to allocate the money. This process is ongoing.

Asylum: Slavery

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that survivors of modern slavery are aware of the repayment scheme for victims of modern slavery who received asylum support in England and Wales between 1 March and 8 November 2018.

Victoria Atkins: Government is making every effort to ensure those affected are aware of the back-payment scheme.We will be sending out personalised letters to all those affected, notifying them of the amount they are entitled to and when they will receive the payment. If an individual believes they are eligible but does not receive a letter, they can complete an application form. Further information is available on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-subsistence-rates-back-payment-victims-of-modern-slavery).We are also working with NRM support providers and other stakeholders to ensure as many victims as possible are aware of this process.

National Crime Agency and Regional Organised Crime Units: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much public funding (a) has been allocated to the (i) National Crime Agency and (ii) regional organised crime units in each year since 2015-16 and (b) he plans to allocate to those organisations in total under the 2019-20 provisional police funding settlement.

Mr Nick Hurd: Regarding the public funding for the National Crime Agency, the figures are as follows:- 15/16: Resource DEL (excluding depreciation): 371; Capital DEL, 40- 16/17: Resource DEL (excluding depreciation): 384; Capital DEL, 50- 17/18: Resource DEL (excluding depreciation): 387; Capital DEL, 50- 18/19: Resource DEL (excluding depreciation): 377; Capital DEL, 50.Regarding the public funding for the regional organised crime units (ROCUs), funding is provided through a combination of PCC funding, Home Office Grant funding (including around £20m ROCU grant per annum) and the Police Transformation Fund. The total figures are as follows:- 15/16: Just over £101m. - 16/17: Just under £119m (they were also granted just over £2.6m in capital). - 2017/18: Just over £129m (they were granted capital of just over £2.4m). In 2018/19, the ROCU network has a combined operating budget of around £166.4m with a total capital expenditure of around £4.6m. It should be noted that the 2018/19 figure excludes London, but we can confirm that London was allocated just over £2.1m through the Home Office ROCU Grant.

Police: Private Finance Initiative

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the total cost of PFI projects to police forces in each year since 2016-17.

Mr Nick Hurd: HM Treasury publish data on all current PFI projects, including information on the unitary charge for each contract. The information can be found at the link below.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-and-private-finance-2-projects-2017-summary-data

Police: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police forces will be required to apply for special grant funding as a result of unexpected and exceptional events relating to the UK's exit from the European Union without a deal.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office has been working closely with policing to support planning for a range of scenarios around our exit from the EU, including leaving without a deal. At present, forces who face significant additional costs can currently apply for additional funding through the Police Special Grant, and we have already provided £845k in funding to Kent Police for costs being incurred this year. We are considering an alternative mechanism for any future requests.

Educational Testing Service: Assessments

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the commencement date for the licence awarded to ETS to provide English language tests for overseas students.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department made any payment to ETS while it held its licence for English language tests for overseas students.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions officials from his Department visited centres delivering the Toeic test while ETS held its licence for English language tests for overseas students.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department took to verify that ETS implemented the security requirements specified in its licence.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Affairs Committee inquiry into the Home Office's use of English-language testing in relation to the issuing of visas, with particular reference to its handling of recent allegations involving English-language test centres, can be found in the following links.Question 60, contains information requested in PQ 211621: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/english-language-testing/written/36541.pdfQuestion 49 in the following link contains information requested in PQ211624:http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/english-language-testing/written/33662.pdfQuestion 100 in the following links contains information requested in PQ211625:http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/english-language-testing/written/36543.pdf

Immigration: Turkey

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to protect the rights of Turkish citizens who applied for permanent residency in the UK through the Ankara Agreement before 16 March 2018.

Caroline Nokes: Turkish business persons and their family members who submitted settlement applications under the Ankara Agreement prior to 16 March 2018 will be assessed under the guidance that was in force at the date of their application.

Asylum: Chechnya

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims his Department has received from LGBT+ people fleeing persecution in Chechnya in each year since 2015.

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to expediate asylum claims by LGBT+ people fleeing persecution in Chechnya.

Caroline Nokes: On 29 November 2018, the Home Office published statistics on asylum claims lodged on the basis or part basis of sexual orientation covering the period 2015 – 2017.  The statistics reflect the claims made by asylum applicants and do not reflect a confirmed sexual orientation basis for a claim. Some individuals applying for asylum may have less reason to mention sexual orientation when making a claim because it may not be a significant factor in their seeking asylum. Such nationalities would be undercounted in these statisticsThe statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018/experimental-statistics-asylum-claims-on-the-basis-of-sexual-orientation.  Chechnyan nationals cannot be identified separately in the data but would be included in the figure for Russia. For Russia, which may also include non Chechnyan nationals, six claims based on LGBT+ issues were received in 2016 and twelve in 2017.  As a signatory to the Refugee Convention, the UK fully considers all asylum claims lodged in the UK. We remain committed to improving the asylum pro-cess for those claiming asylum on the basis of their sexual or gender identity. In the case of considering sexual identity claims, we are confident that our re-vised guidance and dedicated training is thorough and ensures every sexual identity claim decision is scrutinised in depth, either by a senior case worker or Technical Specialist. We do not consider asylum claims lodged outside UK ter-ritory.We recognise the continuing concerns of key partners domestically and inter-nationally, and we remain committed to continuing engagement with them on this issue

Modern Slavery Act 2015: Convictions

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken to improve the process of securing a conviction under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Victoria Atkins: The Prime Minister has convened a taskforce to coordinate the response across Government to this complex crime.Following this, the Government has provided £8.5m of additional funding to the police in England and Wales to help improve the front line response to tackling modern slaveryAligned to this activity, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has delivered mandatory accredited training for all prosecutors who work on modern slavery cases and have appointed a Chief Crown Prosecutor lead for modern slavery work across the CPS. CPS training has a strong focus on the provision of early investigative advice to police forces so that charges may be made under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.Through the Serious Violence Strategy we have provided £3.6 million over the next two years to establish a new National County Lines Co-ordination Centre. The NCLCC was launched on 21 September 2018.The NCLCC will help bring the law enforcement effort together as the links behind county lines are complicated and the threat crosses police force boundaries. The NCLCC will support operational policing as well as providing a central point at which intelligence and information is shared and the links with criminal exploitation and illegal drugs markets are identified.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will reimburse all reasonable administrative costs to EU citizens who apply for settled status.

Caroline Nokes: As the Prime Minister announced on 21 January, there will be no fee for applications under the EU Settlement Scheme when we roll out the scheme in full by 30 March. Anyone who has applied during the pilot phase, or who does so, will have their fee reimbursed. The Home Office will set out further details in due course.

Educational Testing Service: Assessments

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the amount of money paid to proxies who took Toeic English language tests in place of the actual candidates.

Caroline Nokes: Criminal investigations conducted by the Home Office concerning TOEIC abuse have revealed evidence that proxy test takers were receiving money for taking the TOEIC tests on behalf of actual candidates. The amounts varied; but, evidence indicates that they were being paid in the region of £30-£50 per test.

Human Trafficking: Children

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans his Department has to make specialist support and accommodation for trafficked children available under the National Referral Mechanism.

Victoria Atkins: Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTAs) are a source of specialist support for trafficked children. In July 2018, the Government announced that it would roll out the service to eligible children in one third of local authorities in England and Wales by April 2019.The Government is committed to rolling ICTAs out nationally. Section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which makes provisions for ICTAs, is being considered in the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act, led by Frank Field MP, Maria Miller MP, and Baroness Butler-Sloss. The Government will carefully consider any recommendations about ICTAs which come out of the Review ahead of any national rollout.Local authorities play a pivotal role in the safeguarding of all children in their care, regardless of their backgrounds or experiences. It is absolutely right that local authorities continue to make decisions about the placement and welfare of children, which includes ensuring they have access to suitable accommodation. To support this, in addition to the national rollout of ICTAs, we have revised statutory guidance on the care of unaccompanied children and child victims of modern slavery and funded 1,000 additional training places for foster carers and support workers.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the corrected Answer of 22 January 2019 to Question 206251, how many civil servants in his Department were working part or full-time on projects in the Government Major Projects Portfolio in (a) June 2016 and (b) December 2018.

John Penrose: No civil servants in my Department were working part or full-time on projects in the Government Major Projects Portfolio in (a) June 2016 and (b) December 2018.

Treasury

Loans: Mozambique

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2018 to Question 172591 on Mozambique: Loans, what steps he is taking with UK and Mozambican authorities to ensure that London-based banks and individuals concerned are held to account for undisclosed loans to state owned companies.

John Glen: UK-based lenders are subject to prudential disclosure requirements under UK prudential and accounting law. This includes loans made to foreign governments. Compliance with these requirements are independently assessed by the relevant UK regulator during their supervisory activities. Given the complex international nature of sovereign debt, we continue to believe that internationally-agreed approaches are the most effective way to promote sovereign debt transparency. Sovereign governments are ultimately responsible for the transparency of their own borrowing. The UK supports the IMF and World Bank’s efforts to improve capacity and capabilities of sovereign borrowers to fulfil this responsibility. The UK recognizes that creditors also have an important role to play in securing debt transparency and sustainability. The UK is working through the G20 to monitor an industry-led initiative by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) to improve the transparency of lending of private creditors. Regarding the particular case in question, I can confirm that the relevant UK authorities have considered the allegations and have offered assistance to Mozambique in relation to their investigations.

Medicine: Education

Julie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Health and Social Care on funding for additional domestic medical student places.

Julie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of allocating funding for additional domestic medical student places to meet NHS demand.

Julie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to ensure that the UK has the ability to train the medical students it needs to supply NHS workforce requirements.

Elizabeth Truss: The government is delivering on its commitment to roll out an extra 1,500 medical school places. Around 630 have taken up places on medical courses in September 2018, bringing the total intake for 2018/19 to 6,701 - the highest on record. A further 690 will be available to students in 2019/20 and the remaining 180 places will be available in 2020/21. The NHS has established a national workforce group, which will look at the future medical workforce as part of delivering on the workforce aims set out in the Long-Term Plan. The NHS will publish a detailed workforce implementation plan in the Spring.

Debts

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has plans to included the debts owed to (a) HMRC, and (b) other government bodies in the Breathing Space scheme.

John Glen: The Government published a consultation on a single policy proposal for the breathing space scheme in October 2018. The consultation proposed that as wide a range of an individual’s personal debts as possible would be included in the scheme, including certain tax and benefit debts. The consultation closes on 29 January and the Government intends to confirm its approach to these aspects of the scheme in its response.

Tax Avoidance

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people subject to the 2019 Loan Charge were contractors who were contracted to (a) HMRC, (b) a Government Department, (c) a local authority and (d) another public sector body for some or all of the period of the contract the renumeration for which is now subject to the Loan Charge.

Mel Stride: The 2019 loan charge is targeted at artificial tax avoidance schemes where earnings were paid via a third party in the form of ‘loans’ which in reality were never repaid, ‘disguised remuneration’ (DR) schemes. HMRC has never endorsed or participated in disguised remuneration tax avoidance schemes. It is possible for contractors to use disguised remuneration without the participation or knowledge of their engager. As a contracting authority, the majority of HMRC’s contracts are via an agency and use the Crown Commercial Service’s framework contracts, or service contracts with contracted suppliers. Any contractor identified in the course of HMRC’s compliance work as using a tax avoidance scheme would be investigated in the same way as any other contractor. The Government estimates that up to 50,000 individuals will be affected by the 2019 loan charge. The loan charge applies to all users of DR tax avoidance schemes. It does not single out a specific group or industry. Further information on who the charge affects can be found in HMRC’s issue briefing at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-issue-briefing-disguised-remuneration-charge-on-loans. The data requested is not available.

Tax Avoidance

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to take steps to support freelance financial service providers following the recent IR35 changes which stipulate they will now be classed as employees of a company.

Mel Stride: The off-payroll working rules (sometimes known as IR35) only affect people working like employees and through a company. They do not affect the genuinely self-employed and do not focus on specific trades or professions. The announced extension to the private sector, and the recent reform in the public sector, do not change the employment status of freelance financial service providers. As in all cases, whether they are employed, or self-employed, depends on the facts of their working arrangements. The recent changes to the off-payroll working rules in the public sector, shifted responsibility for assessing the individual’s employment status from the individual’s company to the public authority. At Budget 2018, the Government announced its plans to extend this reform to the private sector. HMRC will provide further detailed guidance and support, to help business and individuals implement the reform, before it takes effect in April 2020.

Cash Dispensing: Urban Areas

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of cash machines on high streets in the UK in each year since 2010.

John Glen: The Treasury has not made an estimate of the number of cash machines on high streets in the UK in each year since 2010. The Government recognises that widespread access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses; and continues to engage with the regulators and industry in this area. The Government established the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) in 2015, with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users. The PSR is, therefore, closely monitoring developments within ATM provision. It has recently used its powers to ensure LINK meets its commitment on maintaining the broad geographical spread of free-to-use ATMs. Statistical data on the number of ATMs is publicly available on the LINK website. This includes data on the number of ATMs across the UK, both free-to-use and pay-to-use, since 2010.

Debts

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the regional spread of household debt since 2010.

John Glen: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) routinely produces estimates of household debt in the UK, at an aggregate level. The latest available data on regional household debt, covering the period 2014 to 2016, shows that median household financial debt in the South East is the largest of any English region, while the West Midlands is the lowest. In the UK as a whole, household debt-to-income was 139% in Q3 2018. This remains significantly below the pre-crisis peak of 160% in Q1 2008. Debt interest payments as a share of income remain low by historical standards and below pre-crisis levels. Household net financial wealth as a proportion of income remains close to record highs and above pre-crisis levels.

Motor Vehicles: Taxation

Matt Western: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has accrued to the public purse from the increase in (a) vehicle excise duty and (b) benefit-in-kind for diesel vehicles since April 2018.

Robert Jenrick: Any diesel car that is not certified to the Real Driving Emissions 2 (RDE2) standard is liable to pay a diesel supplement on its Vehicle Excise Duty and company car tax rate. At Autumn Budget 2017, the government published an OBR certified costing of the diesel supplement changes. In 2018-19, these changes are expected to raise £220 million, with this revenue being used to pay for a Clean Air Fund to help English local authorities with the most challenging pollution problems. Aside from the diesel supplement, VED rates for cars, vans and motorbikes increased by RPI in 2018-19 maintaining receipts in real terms. The costings can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661428/Autumn_Budget_Policy_costings_document_web.pdf

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Skateboarding

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding has been allocated to skateboarding from (a) Sport England and (b) UK Sport (i) by recipient organisation and (ii) for what purpose in each of the last two years.

Mims Davies: a) Between 2017-2018, Sport England invested £844,869 into 20 projects, including the refurbishment and development of skateparks and related facilities. Full details of these investments can be found on Sport England’s website.(b) (i) UK Sport has allocated up to £166,825 from the innovative Aspiration Fund to support the sport’s route to the Tokyo Olympics. The skateboarding investment award made through the Aspiration Fund has been allocated to the sport pending identification of the best funding delivery model. This award is dependent upon the sport satisfying UK Sport’s conditions of award.(b) (ii) The £3 million Aspiration Fund announced by DCMS in October 2018 allows sports who do not currently receive full UK Sport funding to develop plans to help teams and athletes qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Alongside skateboarding’s proposed qualification plan for Tokyo 2020, the sport must demonstrate how they will capitalise on the impact of competing at the 2020 Games and engage and inspire communities.

Skateboarding: Governing Bodies

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of compliance to the Code for Sports Governance of (a) the British Roller Sports Federation, (b) the British Skateboard Federation and (c) Skateboard GB / Skateboard England.

Mims Davies: UK Sport has carried out an initial governance assessment of the British Roller Sports Federation, British Skateboarding Federation and Skateboard GB; comparing publicly available information on each organisation with the requirements of A Code for Sports Governance. This type of assessment has been made on all potential Aspiration Fund (AF) recipients ahead of the full assessment carried out on successful AF recipients, leading to a confirmation of compliance with the Code or the establishment of a Governance Action Plan to achieve compliance.

Skateboarding: Governing Bodies

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with UK Sport on the most appropriate organisation to be recognised as the governing body of skateboarding.

Mims Davies: Ministers meet with UK Sport regularly to discuss a range of issues. UK Sport are providing ongoing guidance and support to all skateboarding parties as they aim to meet the conditions of UK Sport's Aspiration Fund award, announced in December 2018. This includes efforts to identify the appropriate delivery model of the funding to which the whole sport is committed. Skateboard GB and the British Roller Skating Federation are working with their International Federation, World Skate, to clarify recognition for the sport of Skateboarding at the Olympic Games.

Skateboarding

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the inclusion of skateboarding at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, what plans he has to support skateboarding in the UK.

Mims Davies: UK Sport announced on 7 December 2018 that 14 Olympic and Paralympic sports, including skateboarding, will receive investment from the new £3m Aspiration Fund, which aims to support sports that do not currently receive full UK Sport funding to develop plans to help teams and athletes qualify and prepare for Tokyo 2020. Alongside their qualification plan, sports seeking funding submitted details on how they intend to capitalise on the impact of competing at the 2020 Games and engage and inspire future generations. This Aspiration Fund provides a fantastic opportunity for sports to develop their potential not only to inspire through their performances, but also to have a genuine social impact in communities across the UK

Skateboarding

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of how many people aged (a) under 16 and (b) over 16 participate in skateboarding each week.

Mims Davies: Active Lives provides a comprehensive overview of sport and physical activity in England. Within Active Lives, there are two surveys: Active Lives Adult, which is published twice a year, and Active Lives Children and Young People, which is published annually.Sport England does not hold weekly figures for adults; these are only held for children. Also Sport England does not have skateboarding separated for children.71,600 adults aged 16+ (0.2%) took part in Skateboarding at least twice in the last 28 days (May 2017/18).322,700 children aged 5-16 (4.6%) took part in Skateboarding, roller skating, blading at least once a week (Academic Year 2017/18).

Broadband: Rural Areas

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) the supplier contribution, (b) estimated take-up; (c) actual take-up, and (d) associated take-up clawback are for each project involved in the roll-out of rural broadband.

Margot James: The public subsidy and most recent actual take-up figures can be found on our public-facing document - Link below:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Hs00bNsyRV1WoOt-fow3rsNXzpcKg26AsOWvk1bvJRk/edit#gid=0Contract specific data is held by each Local Body for their own contracts, so you would need to direct this request to them. Please note that some of this data is commercially sensitive.

Internet: Safety

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government’s plans to publish its white paper on internet safety.

Margot James: The Government plans to publish its Online Harms White Paper this Winter (2018/2019).

Social Media: Taxation

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has plans to introduce a social media levy.

Margot James: The Government Response to the Internet Safety Strategy noted the Government’s intention to set a new, strategic approach to online safety funding, while maintaining the benefits of current funding streams from the major technology companies. Detailed plans to tackle the full range of online harms will be set out in the forthcoming Online Harms White Paper, including legislative and non-legislative measures.

Internet: Safety

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure parents are able to access information on online harms and their prevention.

Margot James: As set out in the Internet Safety Strategy Green Paper, Government is committed to working with a wide range of partners to ensure that online safety messages are delivered to all users, including parents, through a range of communication channels.The forthcoming Online Harms White Paper will set out a wide range of legislative and non-legislative measures to help make the UK the safest place to be online.

Internet: Safety

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of technology companies in promoting online safety.

Margot James: The forthcoming Online Harms White Paper will set clear standards for industry to make sure there is improved support for users online, and that more companies are taking consistent action to tackle online harms.

Third Sector

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 15 of the Civil Society Strategy published in August 2018, what steps his Department has taken to work with civil society stakeholders and the Charity Commission to agree on joint action to open up trusteeship to people from different backgrounds as set out in that Strategy.

Mims Davies: We are fully committed to working with the charity sector to take action on this issue. Since the Strategy was published we have been holding exploratory conversations with stakeholders, including the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Charity Commission. These conversations are helping to improve understanding of the opportunities and challenges around enabling people from different backgrounds to become involved in trusteeship.

Cultural Heritage: Museums and Galleries

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of artefacts in national museums which have never been on public display.

Michael Ellis: It is estimated that together the fifteen DCMS-sponsored museums care for over 100 million objects. These institutions are engaged in an active programme of object loans, touring exhibitions and research programmes and in 2017/18 lent to over 1,300 venues in the UK. This allows millions of people throughout the UK to access the world class collections held by the national museums.The department does not hold information on what proportion of objects in the national museums’ collections have never been on display and it is not possible to estimate.The national museums provide further public access to their stored collections through their websites, publishing images, catalogue entries and interpretation and direct access.

News UK

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his Department’s invitation to comment on a request to accept undertakings in place of conditions relating News Corp UK and Ireland Limited’s acquisition of The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers in 1981 published on 19 January 2019, whether the proposals submitted to his Department seek to vary the existing condition of a criminal offence if the undertakings are breached as currently stated under section 62 of the Fair Trading Act 1973.

Jeremy Wright: The pre-2003 newspaper merger regime, set out in the Fair Trading Act 1973 (FTA 1973), including the criminal offence in section 62 of the FTA 1973 for breaches of conditions, was repealed in 2003. The regime was replaced by the regime set out in the Enterprise Act 2002 which allows the Secretary of State to intervene in certain newspaper and media merger cases that raise public interest concerns. The Communications Act 2003 gives the Secretary of State powers to vary conditions by accepting new undertakings in place of the previous conditions. Where new undertakings are accepted, they are subject to the monitoring and enforcement provisions under the 2002 Enterprise Act in place of penalties under the FTA 1973. This enables the Secretary of State to make enforcement orders if they consider an undertaking has not been fulfilled, or will not be fulfilled. If an enforcement order is not complied with the Secretary of State or the Competition and Markets Authority can bring proceedings for an injunction. If a party did not comply with an injunction this would amount to contempt of court, which can be punished by a fine or imprisonment.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Competition and Markets Authority

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of ministerial oversight of the Competition and Markets Authority; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is a non-Ministerial Department and is operationally independent. Under the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, the CMA must prepare an annual plan to be laid before Parliament and an annual report for my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State and officials of the Department also have regular contact with the CMA.

Tickets: Sales

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the cost has been of the Competition and Markets Authority investigation into (a) Viagogo and (b) other secondary ticket sites.

Kelly Tolhurst: The CMA is a non-Ministerial Department and is operationally independent. The CMA has provided the following information: the CMA’s secondary tickets investigation cost £1.9 million to the end of 2018. However, a significant proportion of those costs relate to the CMA’s litigation against viagogo. Under the court order that the CMA secured against viagogo AG, viagogo AG will meet the CMA’s reasonable costs of those proceedings.

Employment: Parents

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has consulted (a) parents, (b) employers and (c) other organisations as part of its internal review of workplace provision for parents of premature babies.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's internal review of workplace provision for parents of premature babies, what steps his Department is taking to understand the experiences of those parents who live outside of London.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's internal review of workplace provision for parents of premature babies, what steps his Department is taking to understand the experiences of employed fathers with babies receiving neonatal care.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Department is conducting a short, focussed internal review of the provisions for parents of premature and sick babies and those that experience multiple births. The purpose of this work is to obtain a high-level understanding of the barriers to participating in the labour market that these parents can face.BEIS officials are working with organisations who represent the interests of these parents (The Smallest Things, Bliss, and TAMBA) to better understand the issues that parents can face and have also held focus groups with a small number of parents themselves.We are also considering options for addressing other information gaps – including those that are attributable to regional variations in provision and experiences of parents.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of smaller energy companies who have been unable to participate in the Warm Home Discount scheme as a result of having fewer than 250,000 customers.

Claire Perry: No suppliers are unable to participate in the Warm Home Discount. While 15 of the approximately 60 energy suppliers currently in operation are obligated under the Warm Home Discount scheme this winter, others may approach Ofgem to participate voluntarily, and 3 have opted to do so. The threshold for mandatory participation will be reduced over time, from 250,000 domestic customers in 2018/19 to 200,000 domestic customers in 2019/20 and 150,000 in 2020/21. We intend to reduce the threshold to zero or a small minimum, if the evidence on the impacts of reducing the threshold on the energy markets supports this approach. This gradual reduction will give smaller suppliers time to prepare for delivery, adjust their business models and help minimise the risk of non-compliance.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that smaller companies in the energy supply market are eligible to participate in the Warm Home Discount scheme.

Claire Perry: No suppliers are unable to participate in the Warm Home Discount. Suppliers with fewer customers than the obligated threshold already have the option to approach Ofgem to participate in the scheme voluntarily. This year, there are 3 suppliers with less than 250,000 domestic customers, who have opted to participate in the scheme voluntarily. For all suppliers, we took the decision following the Warm Home Discount consultation last year to reduce the threshold for participation over time. It will remain at 250,000 domestic accounts for participating suppliers in 2018/19, and then reduce to 200,000 in 2019/20 and 150,000 in 2020/21. We intend to reduce the threshold to zero or a small minimum, if the evidence on the impacts of reducing the threshold on the energy markets supports this approach. This gradual reduction will give smaller suppliers time to prepare for delivery, adjust their business models and help minimise the risk of non-compliance.

District Heating: Regulation

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to regulate district heating systems.

Claire Perry: Heat networks are an important part of our Clean Growth Strategy with the potential to play a vital role in the long-term decarbonisation of heating. In December last year, we published our approach to establishing a regulated framework for heat networks. We set out three priorities for the sector: protecting consumers; building investment; and maximising the decarbonisation benefits of heat networks. This built on the Competition and Market Authority’s recommendations for heat network regulation, published in the summer.We intend to consult on more detailed policy proposals later this year. Any subsequent legislation would be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

Coal: Imports

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) minimum health and safety and (b) environmental production standards that overseas coal producers would have to meet before they are allowed to export coal to the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Health, safety and environmental standards for the mining of coal is an important issue. The industry’s Bettercoal initiative works to support the majority of UK coal buyers on responsible sourcing of coal on the global market — particularly around social, environmental, and ethical practices in the supply chain.

Climate Change Convention

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will make it her policy to support a formal bid by the UK to host the 26th session of the Conference of Parties to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2020.

Claire Perry: At the 24th UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP 24) we expressed an interest in hosting COP26 in 2020, along with other countries from the Western European and Other Countries Group (WEOG). We are currently engaging with the interested countries and WEOG.

Freezers: EU Action

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to paragraph 31 of the Government's response, dated 27 March 2018 to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee's report on the safety of electrical goods, HC920, whether the UK block on the fridge freezer Standard being accepted at European level is still in place; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The UK’s objection to the adoption of the CENELEC standard on household refrigeration appliances by the EU Committee on Standards has been in place since 2016. This reflects the specific concerns that the standard should go further in relation to fire safety. However, the UK does support other recent changes to the Standard including issues relating to electrical safety, mechanical safety and refrigerant safety. All household refrigeration appliances sold in the UK must be safe before they can be placed on the market as they must comply with the relevant Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing mini nuclear power plants.

Richard Harrington: Diversity in our energy mix provides vital insurance against future uncertainty and in ensuring security of supply can be maintained. As part of this, nuclear power as well as other low carbon power technologies have an important role to play in the UK’s energy future as we transition to a low carbon economy. We regularly compare the impact on electricity system costs of deploying technologies, as well as assessing their impact on energy security, decarbonisation and consumer bills. This includes looking at the benefits smaller reactors can provide to the UK energy mix. This will also include considering the findings of the Expert Finance Working Group which was set up to advise Government on how small reactor projects could raise private investment in the UK, and the outputs from the Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) R&D Programme of which all 8 participants have now submitted their feasibility studies

Timber: Construction

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much timber used for structural construction purposes in (a) England and (b) Great Britain in each year from 2010 was (i) imported and (ii) domestically grown.

Richard Harrington: Sales by UK manufacturers have seen particularly large increases in the last two years of the period. The Department does not hold information about domestically grown timber. The information is not available for England or Great Britain. The following table provides aggregate information for the value of sawn wood, densified wood, particle board, laminated wood and fibreboard (i) imported into the UK and (ii) sold by UK manufacturers. £m, current pricesImports into UKUK Manufacturers Sales2010939.3646.82011852.5652.52012835.7719.42013937.5733.520141,097.7769.220151,043.5777.320161,249.7861.420171,371.11,219.5 Sources:UK Manufacturers Sales – Office for National Statistics UK Manufacturers' Sales by Product (PRODCOM)Imports into UK – Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Monthly Statistics of Building Materials and Components

Timber: Enforcement

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of enforcement action by the Office for Product Safety and Standards related to illegally sourced timber in the last two years.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Timber: EU Law

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many breaches there have been under the UK’s implementation of the EU Timber Regulation for placing illegal timber products on the UK market in the last two years.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Competition and Markets Authority: Finance

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether additional funding will be made available to the Competitions and Market Authority to fulfil its new role in the enforcement of state aid rules.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government provided the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) with £20 million in HM Treasury’s autumn budget for 2019/20. This will ensure the CMA has the resources to prepare for EU exit, and includes funds to fulfil its new role in the enforcement of State aid rules. This funding is in addition to the £23.6m allocated for 2018/19, which specifically included £3.3m provision for the CMA to prepare for its State aid function. The Government is working with the CMA to ensure they are ready to deliver a robust and independent State aid regulatory function at the point it is required and has every confidence in the CMA’s ability to do so.

Employment: Females

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the participation of BAME women in the labour market.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wylfa Power Station: Construction

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what contingency plans his Department is putting in place in the event that work on Wylfa Newydd Power Plant is not resumed.

Richard Harrington: As my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State said to the House on 17 January, the Government will continue to discuss with Hitachi bringing forward new nuclear at Wylfa. He also said that the Government will set out a new approach to financing new nuclear in the planned energy White paper in the summer. Furthermore, the Wylfa project was not due to be operational until the late 2020s and there are a range of options for generating this capacity over that time-frame.

Strength in Places Fund

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to announce successful bids for the Government’s Strength in Places Fund.

Chris Skidmore: During 2018, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invited ‘expression of interest’ bids into Wave 1 of the Strength in Places Fund. All eligible bids were considered by an independent assessment panel, which made recommendations to UKRI. UKRI is currently in the process of finalising the assessment process, and will notify those bids proceeding to the full stage in due course.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Homelessness: Domestic Violence

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce priority housing status for all homeless survivors of domestic abuse in the forthcoming Domestic Abuse Bill.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Domestic abuse is an abhorrent crime that nobody should have to suffer. The Government is absolutely committed to protecting victims of domestic abuse and their families.A victim of domestic abuse already has priority need under the homelessness legislation if they are vulnerable as a result of having to leave accommodation because of violence from another person, or threats of violence from another person that are likely to be carried out.In addition, people who are homeless or owed a duty under the homelessness legislation must be given reasonable preference (priority) for social housing. Statutory guidance issued in 2012 goes further and makes it clear that local authorities should consider giving additional preference (high priority) to those who are homeless and require urgent rehousing as a result of domestic abuse.The Department has no plans currently to change the definition of priority need or reasonable preference.

Local Government Finance

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the level of reserves held by each local authority in (a) absolute terms and and (b) as a proportion of revenue spending at the end of each of the last three financial years.

Rishi Sunak: MHCLG collects and publishes budget and outturn data from all local authorities annually. This published data allows anyone to see absolute reserves levels and to also calculate reserves as a proportion of revenue spending both at individual local authority and sector wide levels. The measure of reserves that is most commonly referred to is non ring-fenced reserves which can be found in cells 915 & 916. The level of spend that is most commonly used is net service expenditure which can be found in cell 805. A web link to the GOV.UK website where this information is published is provided here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing. The Department also publishes a report alongside each data release that provides expenditure and reserves data at both a sector and class of local authority level. A web link to the report for the 2017/18 financial year is provided here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/756323/2017-18_RO_Final_Outturn_Statistical_Release.pdf.

Private Rented Housing: Homelessness

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many properties owned by private landlords have received funding from local authorities to house people who are homeless in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: MHCLG does not collect information on payments made by local authorities to landlords. Information is collected on the number of new private social housing lets made to applicants who are statutorily homeless in table 3f of the CORE summary tables accompanying the annual release. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/social-housing-lettings-in-england-april2017-to-march-2018.

Lakanal House: Fires

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons the full review of approved document B called for by the inquest into the Lakanal House fire was not carried out.

Kit Malthouse: Work on a revised approved document B was in hand, but was put on hold when the independent review of building regulations and fire safety was commissioned following the Grenfell Tower fire. A consultation draft of a clarified approved document was published for consultation in July 2018 and a further call for evidence for a full technical review was published in December.

Social Services: Children

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations he has made to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on additional funding for local authority children’s social services.

Rishi Sunak: My Department works on a regular basis with the Her Majesty’s Treasury regarding funding for local government. This includes children’s services and I speak to colleagues at the Department for Education on this matter as well. At the last Autumn Budget, Government made available an additional £410 million to local authorities for spend on children’s and adult’s social care in the next year. Our Departments will continue to work closely together in the run-up to the next Spending Review.

Council Tax

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of council tax rises on the living standards of low-income families.

Rishi Sunak: Council tax decisions are for local authorities to take having considered local circumstances. However, the Government has maintained referendum thresholds to give council tax-payers in England the right to veto excessive increases in a local referendum and council tax this year remains lower in real terms than in 2010. To assist those facing financial hardship, including those in receipt of low incomes, authorities in England are required to have locally designed council tax support schemes in place.

Homelessness: Mortality Rates

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce mortality among homeless people.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Every person who dies while they do not have a place to call home is one too many and we have a moral duty to act.It should not happen that people die prematurely and on the street because they are homeless. Whilst we recognise that suitable housing is a key part of the solution, health services have a significant role to play, alongside other public services.My Department is working with the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that rough sleepers have the health care they need, when they need it. In its long-term plan, the National Health Service committed to investing up to £30 million extra on meeting the needs of rough sleepers. This will ensure that the parts of England most affected by rough sleeping have better access to specialist homelessness NHS mental health support, integrated into existing outreach services.We are also ensuring that where a homeless person dies, or is seriously injured, Safeguarding Adult Reviews take place where appropriate, so that local services can learn lessons from these tragic events to better prevent them from happening in the future.

Departmental Responsibilities: North of England

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the speech made in Halifax by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth, what plans he has for a secretary of state for the north of England.

Jake Berry: Though questions about the machinery of Government are not for me to decide, my comments reflect the importance of the Northern Powerhouse to this Government. We are committed to delivering power and money away from Whitehall, through the establishment of Mayoral combined authorities and growth deals and devolution deals across the North worth over £5 billion.

Council Tax: Christchurch

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that all Band D council taxpayers in Christchurch make the same financial contribution to the Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Unitary Authority in 2019-2020 whether they live in Hurn, Burton or Christchurch; and if he will make a statement.

Rishi Sunak: The statutory framework, including the Local Government (Structural and Boundary Changes) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, will ensure that all Band D council taxpayers in Christchurch make the same contribution to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Unitary Authority in 2019-2020, whether they live in Hurn, Burton, or elsewhere in Christchurch. This is unless the Unitary Authority, in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, decides that items in its budget are special expenses not chargeable on the council tax payers of certain parishes on the grounds that in those parishes the service concerned is provided by the parish council and not by the Unitary Authority.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2019 to Question 208362 on Buildings: Insulation, what testing his Department plans to carry out on the 1,421 non-aluminium composite material cladding samples submitted to the Building Research Establishment.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect on the provision of social housing through the planning process of changes in 2018 to the National Planning Policy Framework.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of social homes granted planning permission in (a) Lambeth, (b) Southwark, (c) Greater London and (d) England in 2018.

Kit Malthouse: The number of affordable units granted final planning permission during 2017-18 by local authority and tenure, are reported to the department in question 10, Section I of the Local Authority Housing Statistics, which can be found at www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2017-to-2018.The London Development Database (LDD) records more detailed information on significant planning permissions in London. The data is entered by London's planning authorities, and is checked by the GLA to ensure consistency across London. https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/planning-permissions-on-the-london-development-database--ldd-.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January to Question 208793 on UK Shared Prosperity Fund, whether hon. Members were informed in advance of stakeholder events in their constituencies; and whether the Government plans to inform them of future events.

Jake Berry: My officials have been holding engagement events across the UK, including in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The stakeholder events were with external stakeholders from a breadth of sectors in order to aid policy development. No ministers or political representatives have been in attendance.

*No heading*

Bill Grant: What steps his Department is taking to help ensure fire safety in buildings.

James Brokenshire: Nothing is more important than ensuring people are safe in their homes. The implementation plan we published in December sets out the far-reaching programme of work that the Government intends to undertake to deliver a fundamental reform of the building safety system.

*No heading*

Gordon Henderson: What steps he is taking to ensure that adequate infrastructure is put in place to support the proposed increase in housing in the Swale borough council area.

James Brokenshire: We will engage with Highways England and Swale Council to explore ways forward. We are already providing £3.5 million to provide local infrastructure for Swale, and we are working with Kent County Council to develop their proposals for larger, strategic infrastructure.

*No heading*

Eddie Hughes: What progress his Department has made in its review of the rules that require carbon monoxide alarms to be fitted in homes across England.

Kit Malthouse: We are making good progress with the review of carbon monoxide alarms. This has included constructive engagement with industry to gather new evidence and information. We are now considering this updated evidence and will set out the Government response in due course.

Ministry of Defence

Yemen: International Law

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many incidents of potential concern on violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen his Department has tracked in each month since January 2018.

Mark Lancaster: As at 21 January 2019, the number of alleged instances of breaches or violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Yemen listed on the "Tracker" database maintained by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is 409. Of these, 15 are duplicate entries, which means that some incidents will have been recorded on more than one occasion likely because of the incomplete nature of Non-Governmental Organisation and media reporting upon which the MOD relies to update the "Tracker".The MOD does not assess allegations of IHL violations. The Saudi-led Coalition is best placed to do this and does so through its Joint Incident Assessment Team.

Yemen: Terrorism

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the extent to which Saudi Arabian-supplied arms are reaching Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups in Yemen.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence has not undertaken any such formal assessment.

Syria: Military Intervention

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British ground forces are operating in Syria; and with which countries those forces are embedded.

Mark Lancaster: We do not provide details of the locations of our embedded personnel as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces. Details of UK Armed Forces embedded in other countries' forces are published annually in the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts.

Saudi Arabia: Joint Exercises

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 200616 on Saudi Arabia: Joint Exercises, (a) how many personnel and (b) what Royal Navy assets will take part in the Royal Navy Passage Exercise with Saudi Arabia between 3 and 7 February 2019.

Mark Lancaster: Two Royal Navy Mine Countermeasures Vessels (MCMVs) will participate in this activity. MCMVs typically have a crew of between 35 to 50 personnel.

Aircraft Carriers

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there are plans to fit cats and traps to the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

Stuart Andrew: There are no plans to fit cats and traps to the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timeline is for the publication of the comprehensive strategy for personnel recruitment and retention as set out in the Modernising Defence Programme published in December 2018.

Gavin Williamson: The Government plans to set out its strategy for Defence People, including their recruitment and retention, during 2019. I will update the House as the work develops.

BAE Systems: Rheinmetall Defence

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the implications are for his Department's policies as a result of the decision by BAE Systems and Rheinmettal to enter into a joint venture to build military vehicles.

Stuart Andrew: This announcement reflects that the UK defence sector is a world leader in designing, supplying and supporting ground combat platforms for the UK and Allied Armed Forces. It is too early to speculate on specific acquisition programmes in relation to the joint venture.

Warrior Armoured Vehicle: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on extending the service life of the Warrior infantry fighting vehicle (IFV); and many Warrior (a) IFVs and (b) variants does he plans to upgrade under the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme.

Stuart Andrew: The Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme will extend the service life of Warrior beyond 2040 and is currently in its Demonstration Phase. The programme entered trials in September 2018.The first phase of unmanned firing has now been completed and rigorous testing of the demonstration vehicles is under way.The final number of platforms and variant mix is dependent on securing the best value for money during manufacture negotiations.

Challenger Tanks: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on the programme to extend the service life of the Challenger 2 main battle tank; and how many vehicles he plans to upgrade under the Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme.

Stuart Andrew: The Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme is in its Assessment Phase. No final decisions have been made.

BAE Systems: Rheinmetall Defence

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the implications are for competition for the Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme contract as a result of BAE Systems' and Rheinmettal's decision to enter into a joint venture to build military vehicles.

Stuart Andrew: It is too early to speculate on specific programmes in relation to the joint venture.

Ministry of Defence: Disclosure of Information

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2019 to Question 207554 on Ministry of Defence: Disclosure of Information, in what form the information on non-disclosure agreements is held centrally by his Department.

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2019 to Question 207554 on Ministry of Defence: Disclosure of Information, what estimate he has made of the cost of providing the information for each year.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence does not regularly use non-disclosure agreements and they could be held across a number of areas in the Department in both paper file format and as digital records.In the absence of either a central list or local lists of paper and digital files containing non-disclosure agreements, extensive searches would need to be under taken, the cost in effort for this would exceed the disproportionate cost limit of £850.

Military Aid: Public Order

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what guidance his Department has issued to service personnel on standby for the UK leaving the EU on their role in maintaining public order.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence has been working across Government, including the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs' Council, to ensure that Defence is prepared for a range of scenarios. There are no plans to utilise military personnel for public order in the event of a no-deal Brexit, however Defence remains closely engaged on contingency planning and remains available to support the civil authorities if necessary.

Military Aid: Public Order

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what roles service personnel on standby for the UK leaving the EU without a deal would have in such an event; and what roles have been specifically precluded for such personnel.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence is closely engaged with other Government Departments on contingency planning for a range of scenarios. At this point no formal requests have been received for support. As with extant Military Aid to Civil Authorities policy, any use of military personnel will be subject to agreement by a Defence Minister, who would need to be satisfied that it was appropriate to use military personnel in the manner requested.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme: Public Consultation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish a response to the consultation on Better Combat Compensation.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The proposals set out in the Better Combat Compensation consultation would increase the level of compensation paid to Service personnel, or their family, in cases of injury or death in combat. The Government is currently considering how best to respond to the public consultation and will announce a way forward in due course.

Chinook Helicopters: Accidents

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government is taking to preserve the records relating to the crash of the RAF Chinook helicopter on the Mull of Kintyre on 2 June 1994; and where those records are currently archived.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Ministry of Defence (MOD) records that were closed in 1995 and 1996 will be reviewed for release or alternative disposal this year. These reviews have not been completed, and a decision will be made in due course. The records relating to the crash of the RAF Chinook helicopter on the Mull of Kintyre on 2 June 1994 are currently archived with the MOD's Air Historical Branch (RAF) at RAF Northolt.

Department for International Trade

Trade Remedies

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the timeframe will be in which the Trade Remedies Authority will be required to conclude proceedings in respect of a WTO Article 5 investigation.

George Hollingbery: Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Anti-Dumping sets out that investigations should normally be concluded within 12 months, and must not take longer than 18 months. The same rules apply in respect of subsidy investigations. We have been clear that the TRA will be expected to comply with WTO rules; this includes in respect of timeframes where relevant.

Companies: EU Action

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate he has made of the number of British companies in EU supply chains in which a party has an outstanding trade complaint being (a) considered and (b) investigated by the EU.

George Hollingbery: Trade remedies are currently under EU competence while we remain a Member State. The European Commission is currently conducting four anti-dumping investigations, two anti-subsidy investigations and 14 expiry reviews. The Commission provides information about complaints to Member States on a confidential basis. The involvement of British companies in EU supply chains varies on a case by case basis. The UK is committed to a rules-based international trade system and is in the process of establishing the Trade Remedies Authority to ensure that UK businesses continue to be protected from unfair and injurious trade practices once we leave the EU.

Trade Remedies Authority

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate he has made of the volume of (a) legislation and (b) regulations required to be (i) introduced and (ii) amended to give effect to the work of the Trade Remedies Authority; and how many of those items will be brought forward in secondary legislation.

George Hollingbery: The trade remedies framework is set out in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, which received Royal Assent on 14 September. The regulations that will set out the detail of the system will be laid by my Department in the coming weeks; we anticipate that this will amount to 3 substantive statutory instruments. There will be also some need for amendment of other secondary legislation in relation to enabling appeals to be heard by the Upper Tribunal, and the imposition of trade remedy measures on affected imports. These will be included in statutory instruments to be laid by MoJ and HMRC respectively.

Trade Remedies

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018 whether there will be a presumption that the Trade Remedies Authority will impose a trade remedy unless it can be demonstrated that the negative economic effect determined under the economic interest test outweighs the economic benefits of imposing that remedy.

George Hollingbery: Where the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) finds that there has been injury to a domestic industry caused by the import of dumped or subsidised goods, it is required to conduct an Economic Interest Test, as set out in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, before recommending measures to the Secretary of State. In applying that test, the Act makes clear in respect of anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties that there is a presumption in favour of measures being imposed. That presumption applies to the TRA, and to the Secretary of State, and means that measures will be imposed unless it can be demonstrated that the negative economic effects of doing so outweigh the positive.

Women and Equalities

Females: Employment

Kirstene Hair: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department’s work to ensure that women are not held back in the workplace.

Victoria Atkins: Every woman in the UK must have the support needed to fulfil her potential. This government is making this a reality by shining light on inequality through gender pay gap reporting, Returners programmes, Shared Parental Leave and flexible working.   We have invested £4 million in our two gender equality research programmes, the Workplace and Gender Equality Research Programme (WAGE) and the Gender and Behavioural Insights Programme (GABI), which are providing employers with the evidence they need about what works to create a more equal workplace.   The gender pay gap nationally is the lowest on record at 17.9%, but there is a way to go and we are committed to supporting this change.

Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2019 to Question 206432, whether he plans to hold a further route refinement consultation in relation to the High Speed Two Phase 2b route this year.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Secretary of State explained in his statement to the House on 11 October 2018, that he expects to consult on further potential changes to Phase 2b in 2019, including some to facilitate Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Channel Ferries: Freight

Joanna Cherry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what unforeseeable events led his Department to award contracts for additional shipping freight capacity under Regulation 32 of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Joanna Cherry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department used to identify new entrants to the market in the absence of an invitation to tender being published when awarding contracts for additional shipping freight capacity under Regulation 32 of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Joanna Cherry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department used to select existing cross channel operators in the absence of an invitation to tender being published when awarding contracts for additional shipping freight capacity under Regulation 32 of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: I refer the hon Member to my Rt hon Friend's Written Statement of 7 January [HCWS 1233].A negotiated procurement procedure without prior publication was concluded as allowed for by Regulation 32 of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015. An accelerated competitive process was carried out in order to ensure that capacity can be in place in time for a No Deal exit whilst at the same time securing value for money for the taxpayer.

Transport: Disability

Kirstene Hair: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that disabled people have suitable transport access when seeking employment opportunities.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government is committed to ensuring that disabled people have the same access to transport and opportunities to seek employment as everyone else. In July 2018 the Government launched the Inclusive Transport Strategy (ITS) which sets out key policy and investment priorities to deliver an inclusive transport system. Access to Work is a publicly funded employment support programme that aims to help more disabled people start, or stay in, work. It can provide practical and financial support for people who have a disability or long term physical or mental health condition. The scheme is demand-led and offers a discretionary grant, administered by Jobcentre Plus (JCP). Support for disabled workers can include travel to work and travel within work as well as specialised aids, equipment and support workers.

Driving: Diabetes

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2017, when the DVLA plans to update its guidance on diabetes testing and driving to allow the testing of interstitial fluid.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is currently amending the Assessing Fitness to Drive guidance on the use of new monitoring technologies for people with diabetes. The revised guidance is due to be published in February. This will allow the testing of interstitial fluid for driving licensing purposes for people with diabetes who drive cars or motorcycles. Drivers of goods vehicles and buses must continue to monitor blood glucose levels.

Bus Services

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cessations of bus services his Department or Traffic Commissioners were notified of in 2017-18; and where in the UK those cessations have been.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The number of cancelled bus services in 2017-18 in Great Britain (outside of London), by region, registered with the Traffic Commissioners, can be found in the Traffic Commissioners annual report 2017/18 - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/768769/201718_TC_annual_report.pdf The figures relate only to the local bus service registered with a Traffic Commissioner in Great Britain. They do not include those services registered with Transport for London or those in Northern Ireland.

Civil Aviation Authority: Certification

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that certificates provided by the Civil Aviation Authority to British companies will be valid within the EU after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that British aviation supply companies will be able to qualify for work certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: The UK is seeking continued participation in the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) system in order to facilitate the continued frictionless trade in aerospace goods between the UK and EU. The UK, with the second largest aerospace sector in the world, supplies vital components to aerospace exporters within the EU. It is not in the interests of the UK or the EU to disrupt the ‘just in time’ supply chains of our integrated aerospace sector.The Commission has proposed a regulation which, when agreed, would provide an extension of the validity of certain safety certificates issued to or by UK based organisations. In addition, The Aviation Safety (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations which were laid in draft on 26 November 2018 provide that certificates issued by EASA or an EU Member State shall remain valid for a period of up to 2 years.

Mersey Tunnels

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing the Mersey Tunnels into the national road network.

Jesse Norman: The Mersey Tunnels were constructed by the local authorities in the area and, since opening, have been managed locally. Following the establishment of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, it has assumed responsibility for the management, operation and funding of the Mersey Tunnels. The Tunnels are therefore not the responsibility of the Department for Transport and there has been no recent assessment by the Department of any change to this arrangement.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) procurement processes his Department has run for contracts for after the UK leaves the EU since 23 June 2016 and (b) bids his Department has received from suppliers for services for after the UK has left the EU.

Chris Grayling: In line with transparency obligations contracts over £10k are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts Finder provides a facility to search for information about contracts worth over £10,000 with the DfT and its agencies. https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Driving: Diabetes

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) assessment he has made of new diabetes monitoring technologies for drivers and (b) discussions his Department has had with the DVLA on updating the DVLA guidance on new diabetes monitoring technologies.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has worked closely with the Secretary of State for Transport’s Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on driving and diabetes mellitus to understand the potential impacts of allowing the use of alternative methods of glucose monitoring. Following consultation with key stakeholders the panel agreed that the evidence demonstrated that interstitial fluid glucose monitoring systems could be used to monitor glucose levels for the purpose of driving cars and motorcycles once the DVLA had published the revised guidelines. The DVLA is currently amending the Assessing Fitness to Drive guidance on the use of new monitoring technologies for people with diabetes. The revised guidance is due to be published in February. This will allow the testing of interstitial fluid for driving licensing purposes for people with diabetes who drive cars or motorcycles. Drivers of goods vehicles and buses must continue to monitor blood glucose levels.

Railways: Wolverhampton

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much rail fares have increased in each year since 2010 for a peak time return ticket between (a) Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street and (b) Wolverhampton and London Euston.

Andrew Jones: To provide context, we have provided figures for increases in rail fares since 2005. Since 2005, the fares for a peak time return ticket (an Anytime Day Return) between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street, set by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive, have risen as shown in the below table:From Wolverhampton to Birmingham New StreetAnytime Day ReturnValid fromValid untilPriceIncrease02/01/200511/06/2005£5.35 12/06/200501/01/2006£5.35£0.0002/01/200601/01/2007£5.50£0.1502/01/200719/05/2007£5.70£0.2020/05/200708/09/2007£5.70£0.0009/09/200701/01/2008£5.70£0.0002/01/200806/09/2008£6.00£0.3007/09/200801/01/2009£6.00£0.0002/01/200905/09/2009£6.30£0.3006/09/200901/01/2010£6.30£0.0002/01/201022/05/2010£6.20-£0.1023/05/201004/09/2010£6.20£0.0005/09/201001/01/2011£6.20£0.0002/01/201103/09/2011£6.60£0.4004/09/201101/01/2012£6.60£0.0002/01/201219/05/2012£7.00£0.4020/05/201201/09/2012£7.00£0.0002/09/201201/01/2013£7.00£0.0002/01/201307/09/2013£7.20£0.2008/09/201301/01/2014£7.20£0.0002/01/201406/09/2014£7.40£0.2007/09/201401/01/2015£7.40£0.0002/01/201516/05/2015£7.50£0.1017/05/201505/09/2015£7.50£0.0006/09/201501/01/2016£7.50£0.0002/01/201603/09/2016£7.50£0.0004/09/201601/01/2017£7.50£0.0002/01/201701/01/2018£7.60£0.1002/01/201819/05/2018£7.80£0.2020/05/201801/01/2019£7.80£0.0002/01/2019 £8.00£0.20  Since 2005, the fares for a peak time return ticket (an Anytime Return) between Wolverhampton and London Euston, set by Virgin Trains West Coast, have risen as shown in the below table:From Wolverhampton to London EustonAnytime ReturnValid fromValid untilPriceIncrease02/01/200501/01/2006£106.00 02/01/200610/06/2006£114.00£8.0011/06/200609/09/2006£114.00£0.0010/09/200601/01/2007£114.00£0.0002/01/200701/01/2008£123.00£9.0002/01/200806/09/2008£129.00£6.0007/09/200801/01/2009£129.00£0.0002/01/200901/01/2010£139.00£10.0002/01/201001/01/2011£147.00£8.0002/01/201101/01/2012£157.00£10.0002/01/201201/01/2013£166.00£9.0002/01/201301/01/2014£166.00£0.0002/01/201417/05/2014£173.00£7.0018/05/201406/09/2014£173.00£0.0007/09/201401/01/2015£173.00£0.0002/01/201505/09/2015£177.00£4.0006/09/201501/01/2016£177.00£0.0002/01/201603/09/2016£179.00£2.0004/09/201601/01/2017£179.00£0.0002/01/201701/01/2019£182.00£3.0002/01/2019 £184.00£2.00  The figures show that over the five years between 2 January 2005 and 2 January 2010, the peak time return ticket between Wolverhampton and London Euston rose by 39%. By comparison, over nearly double the time period, in the nine years between 2 January 2010 and 2 January 2019, the peak time return ticket rose by only 25%.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Malaysia: Paralympic Games

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Malaysian counterpart since that country’s decision to ban Israeli swimmers from participating in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Qualifiers it is due to host in July 2019.

Mark Field: ​We do not agree with Malaysian Government's position on the banning of Israeli athletes. It is fundamentally wrong. Israeli athletes should not be banned from competing. The UK government strongly supports the principle of inclusiveness of the Olympic movement.I raised our concerns with the Malaysian Minister for Education, Dr Maszlee bin Malik on the 22 January. The British High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur has done likewise with the Malaysian Foreign Minister. We will continue to raise our strong objection with the Malaysian authorities.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Human Rights

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is deeply concerned by the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Human rights violations and abuses include; sexual and gender based violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, extrajudicial killings as well as further restrictions on democratic space.In the run-up to the December 2018 elections, the UK (alongside UN and EU colleagues) pressed the DRC Government to open up political space, release political prisoners, lift a block on internet communications, recognise peoples' right to peaceful assembly, and refrain from using excessive force against protesters.On combatting sexual violence, the UK has helped fund Trial International, who provide support for survivors, promote accountability for sexual violence crimes and build local capacity to effectively document, investigate and litigate sexual violence cases.We continue to encourage the DRC Government to cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council investigation into the human rights abuses in the Kasais area of southern DRC bordering Angola.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Commonwealth Secretariat and his Commonwealth counterparts on the political and security situation in Zimbabwe.

Harriett Baldwin: I attended the EU-AU Ministerial meeting in Brussels on January 21 where I discussed a range of issues, including Zimbabwe, with counterparts. I will continue to raise the political and security situation in Zimbabwe with key interlocutors, including those from Commonwealth states.I have not had any recent discussions with the Commonwealth Secretariat but officials from the FCO and DFID remain in regular contact. The UK would not support Zimbabwe's membership of the Commonwealth at this time because of credible reports of human rights violations by the security forces.

Zimbabwe: Internet and Social Media

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the validity of recent reports of internet and social media shutdowns by the Government in Zimbabwe.

Harriett Baldwin: We are aware that the Zimbabwean Government shut down the internet and blocked a number of social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp from January 15.On 17 January, I summoned the Zimbabwean Ambassador and urged the Zimbabwean Government to stop the disproportionate use of force, investigate any alleged human rights violations and restore full access to the internet. On 21 January, the Foreign Secretary repeated this call in a public message to President Mnangagwa.We welcome the 21 January ruling of the Zimbabwean High Court that overturned the government decision to shut down the internet.​

India: Christianity

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Indian authorities on reports of increased anti-Christian activity and persecution in large parts of that country; and what steps he plans to take to support the resolution of those issues.

Mark Field: The British High Commission in New Delhi, our network of Deputy High Commissions, and FCO officials in London maintain a continuous assessment of the situation across India, including Christian persecution. Our officials regularly meet with Christian minority representatives. Most recently the British High Commission highlighted the importance of Christian persecution to the UK Government with India’s Ministry of External Affairs on 24 January 2019.We shall continue to engage the Indian government and the wider international community on this matter. We also run a number of projects working with minorities to raise awareness of their rights and promote interfaith tolerance in India. ​

Sudan: Demonstrations

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to protect health professionals from the violence being perpetrated by Sudanese security forces during the current protests in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The UK remains deeply concerned by the level of violence and tactics used by the Government of Sudan in response to peaceful protests, in particular at reports of the targeting of medical facilities and those providing assistance. Both bilaterally and alongside Troika partners, we have called for restraint by the Government of Sudan and raised at the highest levels our specific concern regarding the treatment of health professionals. Most recently, I raised my concerns with the Sudanese Foreign Minister on 22 January, stressing the need for an end to violence and for much needed political reforms.

British Nationals Abroad: Homicide

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2019 to Question 208405, how many of those deaths abroad due to murder or manslaughter were British citizens residing in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

Harriett Baldwin: Our case management system does not break down numbers of British nationals who died abroad by residency in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

British Overseas Territories: Companies

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reasonable assistance his Department plans to give to the Overseas Territories to support the implementation of public registers of beneficial ownership in accordance with section 51 of the 2018 Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Sir Alan Duncan: The FCO is working in conjunction with several other Government Departments and Overseas Territories (OTs) to determine what assistance would be most useful.As you are aware, the Minister of State Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon announced at the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council that OT-UK technical workshops would be provided from spring 2019 to provide support.The Government will also consider what financial support it will provide for territories which are eligible for Official Development Assistance.

British Overseas Territories: Companies

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reason 2023 has been established as the new deadline for the creation of public registers of beneficial ownership in the Overseas Territories.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Government will prepare draft legislation by the end of 2020, as required by the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018.The Overseas Territories (OTs) will be expected to have public registers in place by the end of 2023 in line with the UK Government's global campaign to make public registers the global norm by then.It is important that the OTs with financial centres meet international standards on tax transparency and anti-money laundering. Most OTs are either currently being or due to be evaluated by the Financial Action Task Force and are also working to deliver their commitments to the EU Commission to prevent them being included on the EU's list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

British Overseas Territories: Companies

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what activities will take place during the technical workshops to be held with the Overseas Territories for the establishment of public registers of beneficial ownership.

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the schedule is for the technical workshops to be held with the Overseas Territories for the establishment of public registers of beneficial ownership.

Sir Alan Duncan: The FCO is working with other Government Departments to determine the possible date, location and topics that should be included in the technical workshops.Prior to the first technical workshop, the FCO will consult all of the Overseas Territories to find out what topics they would find it useful to cover. This should ensure that the sessions are appropriately designed.For the workshops themselves, we will aim to provide expertise from a range of Departments and Executive Agencies; including Companies House, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Development and the Home Office.

Chechnya: LGBT People

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much funding his Department has allocated to organisations supporting LGBT+ people facing persecution in Chechnya in each year since 2015.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK Government provides long-term support for LGBT+ rights in Russia. Officials from the British Embassy in Moscow have registered concerns about the situation for LGBT+ people in Chechnya at a senior level with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.We currently provide funding to a number of NGOs working to counter violent extremism and promote human rights and the rule of law in the North Caucasus. Since 2015 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have made available significant funding to support LGBT+ rights in Russia.

Chechnya: LGBT People

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Russian officials on the persecution of LGBT+ people in Chechnya.

Sir Alan Duncan: As the Foreign Secretary and I made clear earlier this month, we are deeply concerned about recent reports of a renewed wave of persecution of LGBT+ people in Chechnya. Persecution for being LGBT+, in any country in the world, is abhorrent.Following these renewed reports of persecution, the UK Government has worked closely with international partners to communicate to Russia that persecution of LGBT+ people in Chechnya is completely unacceptable. This includes joint statements from the EU Spokesperson, from the EU to the OSCE (the latter of which Russia is a member of) and the Equal Rights Coalition. We have focused on calling out Russia’s lack of a credible investigation, and impunity for the perpetrators of this persecution. We are now working to sustain this strong and united international response.

UK Relations with EU

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on continued diplomatic cooperation with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Sir Alan Duncan: Last week the Foreign Secretary attended the Foreign Affairs Council with all his EU counterparts. He also held separate bilateral meetings with some of them. It was clear that the EU and its Member States value highly the UK's contribution to European foreign and security policy and want this to continue. At the EU Informal Minister's meeting this week he will continue to discuss future co-operation with EU counterparts. The ambitious future relationship set out in the Political Declaration will enable this to continue, allowing the UK and our European allies to cooperate closely to tackle the common threats we face and promote the values and interests we share.

Syria: Conflict Resolution

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to help secure a resolution to the conflict in Syria.

Harriett Baldwin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa gave to the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington on 22 January, Official Report.Transcript here. The Government support and keep in close contact with the UN-led political process to end the Syrian conflict. We have used our relationships and convening power to encourage progress, including by hosting the then UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura and the Syria small group of like-minded countries. We are also engaging with the new UN envoy, who has our full support.

Israel: Palestinians

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken towards a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The British Government believes a negotiated two-state solution is in the firm interests of both Israel and the Palestinians. We regularly press both parties to resume direct negotiations towards two-state solution. Most recently at the Security Council Open Debate on the Middle East on 22 January the UK's Permanent Representative to the UN reiterated our belief that negotiations will only succeed when they are conducted between Israelis and Palestinians, supported by the international community.

Climate Change: International Cooperation

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the progress on international cooperation on tackling climate change.

Mark Field: ​The UK continues to push for greater international cooperation on climate change.Last month at the Katowice COP 24 conference we reached an agreement on the rulebook for Paris Agreement implementation, a crucial step towards international accountability. However, all our assessments conclude that the current level of global ambition is still not enough to meet the Paris goals of just over three years ago. We need unprecedented and rapid action to reduce emissions and build resilience.Minister of State for the Commonwealth and United Nations, Lord Ahmad, spoke just last week at the UN Security Council on the need to do more, and the UK is leading on Climate Resilience at the UN Secretary General's Climate Summit in September.The UK takes the lead internationally on coal phase-out, renewable energy and zero emission vehicles, amongst others, but we are clear that in order to meet the Paris Agreement goals, all countries need to do more.

Turkey: Politics and Government

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help protect political and ethnic groups that are being targeted by the Turkish Government.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We have made clear to the Turkish Government the importance we place on respect for democratic standards and the human rights of all Turkish citizens, regardless of their ethnicity or political affiliation. Through our Embassy in Ankara we support a range of civil society activity, including projects aimed at improving minority rights. We will continue to engage with Turkey on these important issues.

Department for International Development

Pakistan: Overseas Aid

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) Official Development Assistance and (b) other resources her Department has allocated to the rule of law initiative in Pakistan; and if she will publish her Department's human rights assessment of that initiative for 2018-2019.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID has spent £7.69m to-date since financial year 2015/16 on rule of law initiatives in Pakistan which are funded through the Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF). This has supported work to improve the justice system in Pakistan for citizens.HMG makes robust use of the oversees security and justice assessment (OSJAs) process to manage any human rights risks arising from security and justice assistance delivered overseas. A risk assessment has therefore been carried out on the DFID led work in Pakistan. OSJAs include a UK assessment of the human rights situation in a country at a given time and are regularly updated to inform exposure to risk and adjust programme delivery to reduce that risk if necessary. OSJAs therefore need to be candid about the situation in order to work. Placing them in the public domain could prejudice relations between the UK and another state, the interests of the UK abroad or the promotion or protection by the UK of its interests abroad.

Poverty: Overseas Aid

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that UK aid is (a) effective, (b) transparent and (c) targeted at ending extreme poverty.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID’s core mission is reducing extreme poverty. We are striving to ensure that every project we spend British taxpayers’ money on contributes to both reducing poverty in the developing country and to the UK national interest, for example by tackling multiple drivers of poverty and instability. We are committed to improving the effectiveness and transparency of UK aid to ensure we are attaining maximum impact from our aid budget. In the 2015 Aid Strategy, the government made a commitment to aim for all UK government departments to be ranked as ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’ in the Aid Transparency Index by 2020. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) has the remit to provide independent scrutiny of the impact and value for money of all UK Government aid spending and reports its finding to Parliament’s International Development Committee.

South America: Bilateral Aid

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the value was of bilateral aid provided to (a) Bolivia, (b) Colombia, (c) Ecuador and (d) Peru in each year since 2015; and what plans he has for such spending in each of the next three years.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID provided no direct bilateral aid to Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador or Peru in the years 2015 - 2017, the latest year for which ODA spend has been published. DFID has no plans to allocate bilateral aid to those countries in each of the next three years.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has plans to allocate funding for research into acting/extended-release (a) injectable and (b) implantable forms of Antiretroviral drugs to help (a) a patients adherence to treatment and (b) decrease HIV drug resistance.

Harriett Baldwin: Our HIV/AIDS research focuses on HIV prevention technologies and understanding the structural drivers/factors that can increase HIV infection. Underpinning these themes is the need for strong health systems, to deliver services to those who need it. Our product development research portfolio includes the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM). IPM is developing the first long-acting HIV prevention (containing an antiretroviral drug) designed for women, a self-initiated female prevention product. Research into the root causes of HIV and how best to tackle them are being addressed through the Tackling the Structural Drivers of HIV (STRIVE) and the recently completed Evidence for HIV Prevention in Southern Africa (EHPSA) projects. The results of this research have the potential to increase adherence to treatment and reduce drug resistance. It will help some of the most poor and vulnerable people, and will be of benefit to people in all countries affected by HIV/AIDS including the UK. DFID is also supporting the scale-up of long-acting technologies through our funding to Unitaid. Unitaid is a global health initiative which aims to improve access to medicines, diagnostics and preventative commodities for people affected by HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in lower income countries. The Unitaid board has recently approved development of grants to drive innovation and rollout of the rich pipeline of long-acting technologies for HIV and other diseases.

South Sudan: Human Rights

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department has taken to support better cross-border cooperation to tackle the human rights situation in South Sudan.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department has taken to support better cross-border co-operation to tackle the humanitarian situation in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: As a landlocked country, cross-border transportation of aid is essential for an effective humanitarian response in South Sudan. DFID is funding TradeMark East Africa to improve efficiency and capacity on the Uganda-South Sudan border at Nimule, and to work with the UN to speed up the importation on humanitarian goods.The World Food Programme (WFP) is also working, with DFID funding, to strengthen cooperation on land border crossings between Sudan and South Sudan. In June 2018 a one-year Memorandum of Understanding was signed between WFP and the Government of Sudan to enable the cross-border movement of humanitarian assistance for the South Sudan response.

Hospital Ships

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has plans to allocate funding to the introduction of a UK hospital ship.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, on how many occasions (a) she and (b) officials in her Department have held discussions with counterparts in the Ministry of Defence on the potential procurement of a UK hospital ship.

Penny Mordaunt: Both DFID’s Directors General for Policy, Humanitarian and Research and DFID’s Director for Humanitarian, Migration and Security have held discussions with their counterparts at the MoD to discuss the proposal; a senior official-led DFID-MOD working group has met on two occasions and a series of more junior official level discussions have taken place between DFID’s Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Division and the Ministry of Defence. A further senior cross-Whitehall workshop is planned this week. This builds on broader collaboration between DFID and the Ministry of Defence, including on the establishment of the Humanitarian Innovation Hub, and on taking a joined up approach to building stability in fragile and conflict-affected regions.

Females: Equality

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional (a) funding and (b) staff resources the Government has provided to each Department to enable them to implement Sustainable Development Goal 5.

Harriett Baldwin: Departmental budgets are allocated, through the Spending Review, against Single Departmental Plans. Each Department is responsible for supporting, resourcing, and reporting against achievement of the SDGs, as appropriate to its mandate. The UK’s upcoming Voluntary National Review will provide a snapshot of the UK’s contribution to Global Goal 5, both domestically and internationally, and will be underpinned by data to ensure that it is robust and credible. The UK played an instrumental role in advocating for the inclusion of Goal 5 in the Sustainable Development Goals and is a world leader in supporting international progress against the targets under this Goal.

Government Departments: Sustainable Development

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to monitor progress of Government Departments in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government has embedded the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Single Departmental Plans and is working to produce a strong Voluntary National Review, which will be presented to the UN in July this year. The Voluntary National Review will take stock of the UK’s domestic and international progress in delivering the SDGs. All Government Departments have nominated an ‘SDG Champion’ at Director level whose responsibility it is to promote the SDGs and the Voluntary National Review in their department.

Zimbabwe: Violence

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what international support is being made available to Zimbabwe in light of recent civil unrest and disproportionate use of force by the security forces of that country.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK aid programme in Zimbabwe provides specialised medical, counselling and legal assistance as well as extensive financial and technical assistance to a number of civil society organisations aimed at protecting and promoting human rights and upholding Zimbabwe’s democratic principles. In addition, we continue to provide humanitarian assistance and support to basic service provision to benefit the poorest Zimbabweans.

Syria: Education

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of education provided to displaced Syrian children in refugee camps.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK remains at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, which includes providing life-saving and life-changing support to millions of Syrians who have taken refuge in neighbouring countries. Working with the governments of neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, our assistance is focused on the most vulnerable Syrian refugees in the region, including children, to meet their immediate needs and improve their lives until they can safely return to Syria. Education is a key part of this work. We rely on regular assessment of education needs and learning outcomes, from implementing partners and UN agencies, in order to inform our decisions around our education response in the region. As a result, DFID funded partners in the region are providing educational activities, and child friendly spaces where children receive learning support and psychosocial care, both within refugee camps and in host communities. Overall, in 2017/18 alone, DFID’s support provided over 584,000 children in the region with access to quality education.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the business case for her Department's Programme 300667 entitled Supporting Economic Empowerment and Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the statement by PwC that it was not required to consider whether funds had been transferred to persons implicated in terrorism, whether she plans to alter the terms of engagement for the auditors of this programme.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and robust controls against the diversion of aid to ensure that funds are used only for their intended purpose. These include due diligence assessments of our partners, mapping of funds through the delivery chain, regular programme monitoring and annual audits. DFID’s programme Supporting Economic Empowerment and Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (SEED OPTs) has several components, working on trade facilitation and customs, water and energy, and helping the PA and Israel to abide by their obligations under the Paris Protocol. Work with the Palestinian Authority in the water and energy sectors will be channelled through The World Bank Partnership for Infrastructure Development in the West Bank and Gaza Multi Donor Trust Fund. Through this framework, funds will flow from the trust fund to dedicated accounts that will be managed by the PA in accordance with rules established by the World Bank. Alongside a range of other safeguards, all components will be subject to financial audits. The terms of reference of the audits will vary depending on the component, however all independent financial audits provide assurance to DFID that the expenditure of funds will only be on agreed programme activities. The overall DFID OPTs portfolio is also subject to the regular audit cycle of DFID’s Internal Audit Department and the National Audit Office.

Palestinians: Schools

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2019 to Question 209284 on Palestinians: Schools, and with reference to the meeting between the Minister of State and the Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister for Education in the week beginning 21 January, what steps the PA Minister plans to take to address UK Government concerns on the Palestinian curriculum.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK Government is concerned by allegations of incitement in the Palestinian Authority (PA) curriculum, and Minister of State Alistair Burt raised these issues with the PA Minister for Education again, on 21 January 2019. The PA Minister confirmed that he was willing to take into account the findings of an expert textbook review. This review remains a priority for DFID and will be completed by September 2019.

Department for Education

Education and Skills Funding Agency: Billing

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on instances in which the Education and Skills Funding Agency has issued a contract that does not include provisions that any payment due from the contracting authority to the contractor under the contract is to be made no later than the end of a period of 30 days from the date on which the relevant invoice is regarded as valid and undisputed.

Nick Gibb: The department has standard terms and conditions in contracts for the delivery of goods and services where payments will be made based on an invoice submitted. These standard terms include the requirement for invoices to be paid within 30 days by the department.Contracts and funding agreements relating to the delivery of education and training are not paid on invoice.

Supply Teachers: Chemistry

Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many specialist chemistry supply teachers are available in each region of England.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally. The Department collects information on teacher numbers from the School Workforce Census but does not hold information on the available number of supply teachers in specialist subject areas.

Teaching Assistants: Job Description

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has issued a standardised specification for the job description for teaching assistants.

Nick Gibb: The Department has not issued a job description or specification for the role of teaching assistants. It is for employers to define job roles and make decisions about contracts of employment. The Education Endowment Foundation has published evidence and guidance providing recommendations for the effective use of teaching assistants in order to support employers further on this matter.

Overseas Students

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to increase the number of international students choosing to study in the UK.

Chris Skidmore: The government fully recognises the important economic and cultural contribution that EU and international students make to the UK’s higher education sector. We want that contribution to continue and we are confident – given the world-class quality of our higher education sector – that it will. We welcome international students and there continues to be no limit on the number who can come here to study, nor any plans to limit any institution’s ability to recruit them. The UK remains a highly attractive destination for non-EU students, with their numbers remaining at record highs – over 170,000 non-EU entrants to UK higher education institutions for the seventh year running. The UK is a world-leading destination for study, with 4 universities in the world’s top 10 and 16 in the top 100 – second only to the USA. We actively promote study in the UK through the GREAT Campaign and to over 100 countries through the British Council. That is why the government announced on 21 January that an international education strategy will be produced by the Department for Education and the Department for International Trade in 2019. The strategy will set out the government’s ambition for international education, in which international students play a key role, and plans to support the sector in driving growth in education exports. In the Immigration White Paper, published on 19 December 2018, the UK government proposed to increase the post-study leave period for international students following completion of studies to 12 months for those completing a PhD, and to 6 months for all full-time postgraduate students and undergraduate students at institutions with degree awarding powers. Going beyond the recommendations set out by the Migration Advisory Committee, these proposals will benefit tens of thousands of international students.

Teachers: Pay

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of teachers who have received pay increases in line with the recommendations of the School Teachers' Review Body since that organisation's July 2018 report.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally.The School Workforce Census collects information for teachers’ salaries and is available from the publications ‘School Workforce Census’ available at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-workforce.

National Education Union

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions his Department has had with the National Education Union on the results of their indicative ballot on strike action over teacher pay and education funding.

Nick Gibb: The outcomes of the indicative ballot for strike action were published on 21 January. The Department regularly meets with the National Education Union and the other teacher and head teacher unions to discuss issues relating to teacher pay and funding.

Schools: Uniforms

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timetable is for issuing statutory guidance on school uniform affordability.

Nick Gibb: The Department intends to put the school uniform guidance on a statutory footing when a suitable legislative opportunity arises. No education bill was announced in the most recent Queen’s speech, which set out the proposed legislative programme for this session of Parliament.

William Torbitt School Ilford

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of the planned academisation of William Torbitt primary school in Ilford North constituency.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has had with the London Borough of Redbridge on the proposed academisation of William Torbitt primary school in Ilford North constituency.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will allow William Torbitt primary school in Ilford North to remain as a local authority school because of its recent increases in standards.

Nadhim Zahawi: It is right that the department acts robustly and quickly where there is evidence of failure. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is under a duty to make an academy order for all maintained schools that have been judged Inadequate by Ofsted, requiring them to become an academy and receive additional support from a sponsor. We have a responsibility to ensure all pupils are getting a great education, and we will be unapologetic in acting where pupils’ education is suffering. This school was properly issued an Academy Order on 24 September 2018 following an Inadequate judgement published on 18 September 2018.The Regional Schools Commissioner for the East of England and North East London has had discussions with the London Borough of Redbridge about the proposed academisation of this school.Ofsted revisited William Torbitt Primary School on 9 January 2019. The department will consider the outcome of that inspection and whether the findings merit the revocation of the Academy Order.

Forensic Science: Misconduct

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any of the local authorities that commissioned forensic tests from Trimega Laboratories Limited between January 2010 and April 2014 have carried out a case-by-case assessment of the effect of toxicology on decision-making in relation to the welfare of children.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2018 to Question 191954, what additional required steps local authorities have identified to fulfil their statutory safeguarding responsibilities.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department does not have information on whether the local authorities that commissioned forensic tests from Trimega, between January 2010 and April 2014, have carried out a case by case assessment of the effect of toxicology on decision-making in relation to the welfare of children. However, the department wrote to local authorities on 17 November 2017 and 16 February 2018, asking them to review whether they had commissioned forensic tests from Trimega Laboratories Limited between January 2010 to April 2014, and to consider whether there was a need to take further action in order to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities.

Education: Children

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding his Department's review of education outcomes for children in need to consider (a) employment outcomes, (b) training outcomes, (c) housing outcomes and (d) health outcomes.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department is committed to ensuring that all children, regardless of background, have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. To this end we have undertaken a broad programme of evidence gathering to review the outcomes of and support for Children in Need.The scope of the review is focussed on educational outcomes, and we have no plans to extend this – however we recognise that the factors affecting these children and young people’s educational outcomes, such as the support they receive, may also lead to other poorer outcomes. That is why our March data publication set out our intention to understand the lifetime outcomes of Children in Need, including exploring the feasibility of matching the Department for Education’s Children in Need data with data from other government departments. Children’s social care and schools have a central role in supporting Children in Need – it is therefore important for us to focus the review on what we can do now whilst making progress and working across government to understand more about other outcomes over the longer-term. We recognise that there are times when children and families need additional support when experiencing difficulties in their day to day lives. Our new data shows that many families have received help from children’s services at times of difficulty over the three year period. In many cases these families have received the support they need to move on without further contact with children’s services. We will spend the final part of the review considering what more we can do, in policy and practice, to support the change that is needed.

Higher Education: Admissions

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of young people that attended school-based sixth forms went on to attend Russell Group universities in each of the last nine years.

Chris Skidmore: ​The table below shows the percentages of young people attending state-funded mainstream school sixth forms that went on to sustained destinations at Russell Group Universities after 16 to 18 study (taking A level or other level 3 qualifications) in academic years 2010/11 to 2016/17 (the last 7 years for which data is available).​Destination Year​Number of Pupils​Overall Destinations​Russell Group Destinations​2010/11​162,520​89%​12%​2011/12​164,580​91%​15%​2012/13​169,395​90%​15%​2013/14​172,635​91%​17%​2014/15​173,720​90%​17%​2015/16​182,880​91%​17%2016/17191,92590%17% Information on pupil destinations is published annually at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-ks4-and-ks5-pupils-2017.

Higher Education: Admissions

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of young people that attended further education colleges went on to attend a Russell Group university in each of the last nine years.

Chris Skidmore: ​The table below shows the percentages of young people attending further education colleges (including sixth form colleges) that went on to sustained destinations at Russell Group Universities after 16 to 18 study (taking A level or other level 3 qualifications) in academic years 2010/11 to 2016/17 (the last 7 years for which data is available).​Destination year​Number of pupils​Any education or employment destination​Russell Group destinations​2010/11​178,680​84%​5%​2011/12​170,910​85%​6%​2012/13​176,390​85%​6%​2013/14​186,330​87%​6%​2014/15​189,210​86%​6%​2015/16​183,265​88%​7%2016/17180,33087%7% Information on pupil destinations is published annually at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-ks4-and-ks5-pupils-2017.

Knowledge Economy: Young People

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to prepare young people to participate in the knowledge economy.

Chris Skidmore: ​We agree that the Knowledge Economy is important, and we are making key reforms across education which will give young people the opportunities to gain the education, skills and knowledge they will need in the Knowledge Economy.In 2016 the government published a white paper, ‘Success as a Knowledge Economy’, which set out our proposals to help support the UK succeed as a knowledge economy. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-success-as-a-knowledge-economy-white-paper.Following this white paper, we introduced the Teaching Excellence Framework, which aims to assess, recognise and reward high quality teaching in higher education. Its purpose is to drive up the standard of teaching, give students clear information about where teaching quality is best and information about where students have achieved the best outcomes.Through the Higher Education Research Act (2017), the Office for Students, a new regulator for the higher education sector was established. Its focus is to ensure that any student with the ability to benefit from higher education is supported in doing so, and that they have a positive experience and receive worthwhile outcomes.Building on the apprenticeship programme, which provides employment and high quality training in a range of professions, we have also established degree apprenticeships. They sit alongside the higher education academic offer and provide another route for people to gain the knowledge and skills that they need.We are also making key reforms to technical education by introducing T levels which will provide high quality, technical qualifications to rival traditional academic options. We are addressing technical needs at level 4 and 5, looking at how classroom-based education - particularly technical education - meets the needs of learners and employers. In addition, we have announced our intention to establish a system of employer-led national standards for higher technical education.In schools we have overhauled a curriculum that was denying pupils the core academic knowledge, reformed the examination system, are actively encouraging take-up of science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, improving the quality of the schools teaching profession and raising standards.​These polices help provide young people with a wide range of opportunities to gain the education, skills and knowledge they need to be successful in their chosen path.

Further Education

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people in post-16 education are currently working towards (a) level two, (b) level three, (c) level four and (d) level five qualifications.

Anne Milton: The attached table shows the official participation estimates and highest qualification aims for 16 to 18 year olds in full and part-time education in England for the latest 5 years.



211296_Highest_Qualification_Estimates_16_to_18
(PDF Document, 64.71 KB)

T-levels

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the introduction of T Levels on the number of people starting B Tech courses.

Anne Milton: We want T levels and A levels to become the qualifications of choice for 16 to 19 year olds taking level 3 classroom-based qualifications. T levels will offer a world-class option for students who want to choose technical study over academic study.Alongside the introduction of T levels, we have committed to carry out a review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below. The review aims to simplify the current qualification landscape at level 3 and below, so that all qualifications continuing to be eligible for public funding will meet three principles: have a distinct purpose, are high quality, and support progression to good outcomes.We are conducting a two stage consultation and we will work closely with schools, colleges, and others affected by the review to consider the full range of evidence surrounding these qualifications.

Pre-school Education: Cooperatives

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the proportion of early years providers that are co-operatives.

Nadhim Zahawi: Information on early years providers that are co-operatives is not held centrally. The department’s Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers collects data on group-based providers, maintained providers and childminders. The survey is published annually.

Pre-school Education: Disadvantaged

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the specific funding needs of early-years settings in deprived communities where provision is almost exclusively local authority funded.

Nadhim Zahawi: We will be spending around £6 billion on childcare support in 2019-20 – a record amount. That includes funding for our free early education entitlements, on which we plan to spend around £3.5 billion this year alone. The government’s Early Years National Funding Formula allocates funding to local authorities for the purpose of delivering our early years entitlements. Our new formula was introduced in April 2017 following extensive consultation and it includes an additional needs factor to weight funding according to disadvantage. To accompany the government response to the consultation, we published an Equalities Impact Assessment looking into the effects of the formula on specific groups. Both documents may be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/early-years-funding-changes-to-funding-for-3-and-4-year-olds. We also require local authority funding formulas, which allocate funding to providers, to have a mandatory deprivation supplement. The government recognises the need to keep the evidence base on costs up to date. We continue to monitor the provider market closely through a range of regular and one-off research projects which provide insight into various aspects of the provider market.

Pupil Referral Units

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average annual per pupil cost is of a Pupil Referral Unit.

Nick Gibb: Funding for alternative provision (AP) comes from the high needs block of the dedicated schools grant and includes funding for Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). Local authorities provide place funding of £10,000 for each AP place in a pupil referral unit from their high needs budget. In addition, top up funding is paid by the commissioner of AP and relates to additional costs above the £10,000 for each individual pupil. The Department estimates the per pupil cost of AP (including PRUs) to be £17,000 nationally. The Department’s data is based on actual reported spending by local authorities to the Department and is a national average.[1] This does not capture spending on AP by schools who might commission services directly. Isos Partnership also published research in 2018, estimating the average cost of AP to be £18,000 but this may be based on different methodology from the Department’s internal analysis. Their analysis can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/752548/Alternative_Provision_Market_Analysis.pdf.  [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/section-251-materials.

Apprentices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the creation of a UCAS-style portal for apprenticeships.

Anne Milton: We want to make the system easier to navigate for young people considering technical and vocational routes, as we committed to in the government's manifesto. We are still considering the feasibility of a centralised portal for further education. We have conducted extensive research with over 2,000 young people, colleges and career advisers. We will make final decisions on this in the context of our reforms to apprenticeships and the introduction of T levels.We have already introduced functionality that allows levy-paying employers to advertise their own vacancies on the apprenticeship service. The Find an Apprenticeship website is accessed by thousands of would-be apprentices, their teachers and parents. Employers that do not pay the levy can continue to advertise their vacancies by contacting the national contact centre or working with their training provider. We will continue to develop this in future, informed by our engagement with employers and their feedback on the service.​The National Apprenticeship Service and UCAS have developed a higher and degree apprenticeships ‘vacancy finder’ to consolidate many of these opportunities into one place. In November, we published thousands of vacancies from various employers starting in 2019.

Home Education: Standards

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that children in home education placements have a high standard of education and care.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Free School Meals: Greater London

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children who have applied for free school meals in (a) Enfield North, (b) the Borough of Enfield and (c) London since the roll-out of universal credit in those areas; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally as we do not collect and publish data on the number of individual applications made for free school meals through schools or local authorities.The department publishes data on the number and proportion of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals by local authority area and region.The latest version, published in January 2018, is available at:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/735777/Schools_Pupils_and_their_Characteristics_2018_LA_Tables.xlsx.

Foreign Students

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the change has been in the number of UK students studying abroad between 2016 and 2018.

Chris Skidmore: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) collect and publish the number of UK students studying wholly overseas. Tertiary education is defined as International Standard Classification of Education levels 5-8. Statistics on mobile UK students studying abroad in 2016 and 2017 have been provided in the table. Data for 2018 has still to be published by UNESCO. UK DOMICILED STUDENTS STUDYING ABROAD 2016 to 2017 YearNumber of UK students studying tertiary education programmes abroad201634,017201734,025 Source: UNESCO, internationally mobile tertiary students studying abroad (2016 to 2017), data available at http://data.uis.unesco.org/. In addition, ERASMUS collect and publish further information on the number of students studying overseas as part of their studies at their UK university, available at http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/about/statistics_en.

Overseas Students: Finance

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on enabling access to student finance for people with leave to remain in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State meets with my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary and other Cabinet secretaries regularly to discuss the Department for Education agenda.

Apprentices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Aspire Achieve Advance apprentices were (a) affected by that provider ceasing trading and (b) have been found alternative provision.

Anne Milton: In total, the closure of Aspire Achieve Advance has affected 4,216 apprentices. The apprentices were split between apprenticeships supported via levy funding and those supported via non-levy funding, based on the size of the employer involved. There were 2,384 apprentices with large levy paying employers and 1,832 apprentices with smaller non-levy paying employers.It is the responsibility of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to source alternative high quality provision for the non-levy apprentices while employers retain the lead for sourcing alternative provision funded by the levy. They do this with the full support of the National Apprenticeship Service. So far, for the non-levy funded apprentices, the ESFA has approved 1,358 apprentice transfers to 125 high quality alternative providers.Officials have also identified alternative, high quality provision for each of the remaining 410 apprentices and are contacting the providers involved to facilitate the transfers. 64 apprentices have notified us that they have successfully completed or withdrawn from their apprenticeship. Of the 2,384 apprentices funded by the levy, National Apprenticeship Service account managers are supporting those employers to identify new providers. To date levy paying employers have transferred 534 apprentices to new providers of their choice.

16-19 Bursary Fund

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current funding for the 16 to 19 bursary.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

16-19 Bursary Fund: Social Mobility

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the 16 - 19 bursary in promoting social mobility.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Further Education: Labour Turnover

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the levels of retention of further education teachers and staff.

Anne Milton: While further education (FE) providers are a key part of our national infrastructure, unlocking potential, developing skills, and improving social mobility and productivity, they are private sector institutions, independent of government. As such, the department has not historically collected data that would allow us to measure rates of retention amongst FE teachers and other staff. However, in 2018, we carried out the first College Staff Survey, gathering new workforce data, and we expect to extend this to other types of provider in 2019, as well as conducting a follow-up survey that will allow us to assess a number of issues concerning the FE sector.

Children: Social Services

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122517, how many requests he received from local authorities for exemptions from statutory guidance in respect of children’s social care in each of the last three years; how many exemptions were granted in each of those years; which local authorities had exemptions granted, and for what purpose is such exemption was granted.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department has had one request for an exemption to statutory guidance in the last three years, which was not granted.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Environment Protection: Crime

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many fixed penalty notices were issued by local authorities for environmental protection crimes in each of the last five years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra publishes annual fly-tipping statistics for England which include information on the number of fixed penalty notices issued in relation to fly-tipping offences only. This data is compiled on a financial year basis with the latest published data available for 2017/18. A summary of the annual figures on the number of fixed penalty notices issued by local authorities is given in the table below from the data published here: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. Fixed penalty notices issued for fly-tipping offences in England: YearFixed Penalty Notices issued in relation to fly-tipping2013/1436,8352014/1538,1492015/1635,8882016/1757,2712017/1868,618 We do not collect any data on fixed penalties issued for other environmental offences such as noise, littering, dog fouling or abandoned vehicles.

Seagulls

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2019 to Question 206880 on Special protection areas, when the lesser black-backed gull is planned to be added as a qualifying feature to the Bowland Fells SPA; and whether there are any remaining barriers to that being done.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: There are no plans to do so.

Fisheries

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that fishing limits are set in line with scientific recommendations.

George Eustice: Scientific advice received from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) about the condition of fish stocks underpins the process of negotiating sustainable total allowable catches (TACs). The UK position is developed under the principle that all proposals must be scientifically justified in light of ICES advice, and deliver UK objectives for sustainable fisheries.We also draw on bespoke scientific advice when developing specific management measures. For example scientists at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) evaluated a proposed package of technical measures for a previously overexploited Nephrops stock in the Farn Deeps, and advised how the package might reduce fishing mortality. Following the introduction of measures informed by this scientific advice, the stock is now being fished within maximum sustainable yield levels.The UK has always been a strong advocate for MSY both in international agreements and in negotiations over catch limits for stocks that we have an interest in. We remain therefore committed to continuing to work under the principle of MSY and restore stocks to healthy conditions as quickly as possible, including taking a precautionary approach where necessary. This commitment is confirmed by the Fisheries Bill.

Beverage Containers: Recycling

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the consultation for a deposit return scheme as announced by his Department on 28 March 2018.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Proposals are currently being developed for the model, scope and scale of a deposit return scheme (DRS), and the consultation will be published shortly.

Animals: Trade

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made in developing a replacement for the Trade Control and Expert System required after the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley: A replacement for the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) has been developed and is currently being tested.This new system allows importers to raise notifications of consignments bound for the UK and enables port health authorities to carry out and record checks on imports.Once the new system is ready to go live, importers with the greatest need will be given access. This managed roll-out will enable us to further test and refine the system before the full public release.

Biodiversity

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by what date his Department plans to publish the UK's sixth national report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the UK's sixth national report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity was submitted to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity by the 31 December 2018 deadline; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK’s sixth national report will set out the UK’s progress towards the goals and targets set out in the global strategic plan for the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). A draft report has been prepared and is in the final stages of internal review prior to submission and publication. We aim to submit to the CBD in the first quarter of this year. The UK is committed to being the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it and we are committed to leading action globally on halting the loss of biodiversity, including under the Convention on Biological Diversity. We have undertaken consultation and review by specialists in the Government, NGO and academic sector to ensure the report is based on best available evidence.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Statutory Instruments

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will provide a list of the titles of his Department’s draft statutory instruments subject to the affirmative procedure which are awaiting debate in either House with (a) an indication of the order in which he expects them to be scheduled for debate in each House, (b) the week in which he expects that debate to take place and (c) the time he expects to be allocated for each debate.

George Eustice: Defra currently has a total of 56 planned statutory instruments subject to the affirmative procedure. These will be scheduled for parliamentary debate in the usual way, and their timings and duration will be published on gov.uk in due course.The attached table includes the titles of these statutory instruments.  



List of affirmative SIs
(Word Document, 23.77 KB)

Air Pollution: Hospitals and Schools

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that nitrogen dioxide levels around hospitals and schools will be within legal limits by 2025.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter, including for London. In July 2017, we published the NO2 Plan, backed by £3.5 billion funding, which sets out the steps we are taking to reduce NO2 concentrations in the shortest possible time on all roads currently breaching legal limits, including any such roads located near schools and hospitals. We are working with local authorities to identify measures to bring forward compliance, and support them with guidance and funding. Additionally, we published our new world leading Clean Air Strategy on 14 January this year, which contains new and ambitious goals, legislation, investment and policies to help us to clean up our air faster and more effectively.

Transport: Exhaust Emissions

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help small businesses and individuals from low-income households switch to cleaner forms of transport in order to improve air quality.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The government has allocated £3.5 billion to improve air quality. There are a number of different ways this is being spent. For those areas identified in the 2017 Air Quality Plan as eligible for assistance from the clean air fund, it is for local authorities to consider what grants they may wish to apply for, including support for changes in transport. The Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) offers a comprehensive support package enabling the take up of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) including cars, vans, taxis, buses and motorcycles; grants for supporting consumers install charging infrastructure and funding for local authorities to support those households without off street parking. There is also support for businesses to install charge points at workplaces.

Air Pollution: Schools

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of air quality around schools in Coventry; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to review and assess local ambient air quality, and are responsible for mitigation of air pollution where people are likely to be exposed, such as at schools.Defra provides guidance and support to local authorities on monitoring; positioning of monitors is expected to be in line with national and local priorities, and may include schools and other locations where there is high risk of public exposure.Coventry City Council monitor for both NO2 and PM2.5. The council has declared an Air Quality Management Area for exceedances in levels on NO2 and have been updating their action plan to improve air quality in the city.Government is working closely with 61 English local authorities, including Coventry City Council, and has placed legal duties on them – underpinned by £495 million in funding – to tackle their nitrogen dioxide exceedances.

Pets: Travel

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason guidance entitled, Taking your pet abroad if there's no Brexit deal, which was updated on 19 December 2018, was withdrawn on 11 January 2019; and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley: Following our decision to leave the EU, Defra is working to make sure pet owners wishing to travel with their pets to the EU after March 29 are made aware of any potential changes to the pet travel scheme and what actions need to be taken. We have taken the view that centralising this guidance is prudent to reacting quickly to changes as needed as well as for clarity purposes. For this reason, while the guidance issued on 24 September 2018 Taking your pet abroad if there’s no Brexit deal remains active, it has been replaced with follow-up advice on GOV.UK called “Pet travel to Europe after Brexit”. While the information contained in this later release hasn’t changed from the previous technical notice, it emphasises the need for owners to seek advice from their veterinarian and also focuses on a “no deal” scenario, as opposed to the range of possible scenarios discussed in the technical notice.

Environment (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent to which the draft Environment (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (a) make policy changes, (b) will lead to a change in operational delivery, (c) will impose additional costs on (i) business, (ii) individuals and (iii) the public sector, (d) make changes to primary legislation, (e) will result in additional environmental impacts compared with the legislation being amended and replaced and (f) are required only in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: In answer to the questions and assessment of the regulations:A) they do not;B) they do not;C) they will not;D) any changes to primary legislation are set out in the SI;E) they do notAndF) they are required to fulfil the commitment that EU law would be transferred into UK law when the UK leaves the EU.

Floods and Water (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which the draft Floods and Water (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (a) make policy changes, (b) will lead to a change in operational delivery, (c) will impose additional costs on (i) business, (ii) individuals and (iii) the public sector, (d) make changes to primary legislation, (e) will result in additional environmental impacts compared with the legislation being amended and replaced and (f) are required only in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: In answer to the questions and assessment of the regulations:A) they do not;B) they do not;C) they will not;D) any changes to primary legislation are set out in the SI;E) they do notAndF) they are required to fulfil the commitment that EU law would be transferred into UK law when the UK leaves the EU.

Animal Welfare Act 2006

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government next plans to review compliance with the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

David Rutley: Every year 800 to 1,000 people are successfully prosecuted for animal cruelty and poor welfare. The Government has announced that it will increase the maximum penalties for animal cruelty ten-fold from six months’ imprisonment to five years’ imprisonment. The EFRA Select Committee held inquiries into aspects of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in 2010/11 and in 2016, and the Government currently has no immediate plans to further review compliance with the 2006 Act.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Pay

Gareth Snell: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what information his Department holds on the rate of remuneration for (a) cleaners, (b) security guards and (c) catering staff in his Department in (i) Greater London and (ii) outside Greater London.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Department does not directly employ any staff in the professions listed.The Department leases its offices from other Government departments. Those departments may employ staff either directly or via agencies. Therefore we do not hold this information.

Brexit

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterpart on extending Article 50.

Kwasi Kwarteng: As the Prime Minister said in her statement to the House on Monday 21st January, the Government is opposed to extending Article 50 and we are committed to leaving the EU on 29 March 2019. In any case, the EU are very unlikely simply to agree to extend Article 50 without a plan for how we are going to approve a deal.

Attorney General

Money Laundering: Criminal Investigation

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of resources available to the Serious Fraud Office to undertake investigations into (a) Mukhtar Ablyazov and (b) other cases of large-scale international money laundering.

Robert Buckland: The SFO has sufficient funding to carry out its work. Funding arrangements were reviewed in April 2018 when cost-neutral changes were made to the SFO’s core budget enabling it to work flexibly and efficiently. This allows the SFO to carry out its work, including money laundering investigations that fit within its statutory remit.

Prosecutions

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the effective prosecution of criminals.

Mr Geoffrey Cox: The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed the outline terms of a comprehensive future security relationship including law enforcement, criminal justice, and judicial cooperation.I have regular meetings and briefings with the Director of Public Prosecutions and senior officials of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). A significant amount of planning for EU Exit has taken place and the CPS is making preparations for both for the implementation period or for an exit without a deal.

Wales Office

Wylfa Power Station

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment his Department has made of the value of investment lost to Wales by the cancellation of Wylfa Newydd project.

Alun Cairns: Hitachi made the commercial decision to suspend, not to cancel, the Wylfa Newydd project. We will continue to work with Hitachi to decide what the next steps will be for the project and the site. Nuclear has a strong history in North Wales, and Wylfa Newydd is an attractive option for new nuclear projects.

Renewable Energy: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of the total value of UK Government funded renewable energy projects that have been cancelled in Wales in the last three years.

Alun Cairns: On 19 October 2018, the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) announced that it had terminated the contract for difference awarded to Station Yard CFD 1 during the second Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation round in 2017. Station Yard is a 0.05MW Advanced Conversion Technology with Combined Heat and Power project located in Llangadog, Carmarthenshire. The project’s contract was terminated because it failed to make sufficient progress towards meeting its milestone requirement to demonstrate a commitment within one year of signing a CfD to deliver the project. It is estimated that had Station Yard been commissioned it would have received support of less than £70,000 (in 2017/18 prices) for electricity generated over the 15-year period of its contract. A CfD is a private law contract between a generator and the LCCC, a government-owned company. CfDs are managed independently by the LCCC and decisions as to whether a generator has met its milestone requirement are for the LCCC. The milestone requirement is a contractual requirement. Failure to meet this requirement may result in a CfD being terminated. The Government is not aware of any other renewable energy projects in receipt of funding from CfDs or other UK Government schemes that have been cancelled in Wales during this time period.

Ministry of Justice

Prison Sentences

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have received an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence in each of the last three years.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences have served time in excess of the original sentence.

Rory Stewart: The Courts have handed down one Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence in the last three years. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act abolished the IPP sentence for offences committed on or after 3 December 2012. However, the offender in this one case committed the offences prior to abolition of the IPP sentence. Prisoners serving an IPP sentence have no fixed date of release. At the time of sentencing, the Court set a tariff – that is, the minimum custodial period to be served before the prisoner would be eligible for release. At the end of September 2018, 2,319 IPP prisoners had served more than their minimum tariff period. The number of tariff-expired prisoners serving an IPP sentence, and the time they have served over tariff, is published in table 1.9b of the OMSQ Prison Population publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2018 Figures for Quarter 4 of 2018 will be published at the end of January 2019. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Public protection is our priority. Prisoners serving IPP sentences will only be released if the independent Parole Board is satisfied that it is safe to do so based on a thorough assessment of risk. Those who have served their minimum tariff have the opportunity to apply to the Parole Board and demonstrate that they are no longer a risk to society.

Prisons: Drugs

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prison staff exposed to new psychoactive substances during the course of their work in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Holding answer received on 24 January 2019



Protecting the health and safety of our prisoners and staff is our priority and I am concerned by reports of the effects of secondary inhalation of psychoactive substances in addition to the harm which prisoners do to themselves by using these drugs.We do not have reliable data on the number of incidents where staff may have been exposed to psychoactive substances but we are working closely with Public Health England and other experts to understand the scale of the issue and to ensure our response to the threat is clinically and scientifically appropriate.Our internal guidance on controlling the risks of secondary exposure has, though, been substantially revised following consultation and includes detailed information on how to assess and control risk on entry into cells where psychoactive substances have been used.Of course, the best way to do address this risk is to keep drugs out of prisons. That is why we have formed a Drugs Taskforce which is working with law enforcement and health partners across government to restrict supply, reduce demand and build recovery. The Taskforce is developing a national Drug Strategy, which will provide all prisons with guidance and examples of best practice to support them in tackling drugs. We are also investing £6 million in 10 of the most challenging prisons, to provide more staff focused on effective searching, drug detection dogs, body scanners and improved perimeter defences.Psychoactive substances have presented a particular challenge and in September 2016, we became the first prison service in the world to introduce innovative mandatory drug tests for these substances, a significant step in tackling the supply and use of them. We have made it a criminal offence to possess psychoactive substances in prison, trained more than 300 sniffer dogs specifically to detect them and ensured all prisons have clear guidance on how to detect and prevent attempts to send paper laced with psychoactive substances into prisons.

Television: Licensing

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2018 to Question 198197 on Television: Licensing, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been given custodial sentences for failure to pay fines levied for non-payment of the BBC licence fee in each of the last three years.

Rory Stewart: The number of people who have been committed to prison for failure to pay fines imposed for non-payment of the BBC licence fee in each of the last three years can be viewed in the table.  Table 1: Sentenced prison admissions for non-payment of the fine associated with using a TV without a licence, by sex; 2015 to 2017 201520162017  Total382919   Of which: Female20128   Male181711 Data sources and qualityThe figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.  Source: PQ 211130 (Ministry of Justice; ASD-JSAS)

Administration of Justice: Disclosure of Information

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what policies and procedures his Department had put in place in relation to the (a) legal and (b) other advice on to the release of information about an individual in the criminal justice system; what policies and procedure his Department had put in place for the (i) designation and (ii) authorisation of personnel to release that information at the time when information on Jon Venables being in custody was released on or around 2 March 2010; whether changes to those policies and procedures since that date; and how changes to those policies and procedures were issued to staff in his Department.

Rory Stewart: It is the Department’s policy not to release information about an individual in the criminal justice system, although it will sometimes be necessary for the Department to confirm information which is already in the public domain. Under the statutory Probation Victim Contact Scheme (VCS), qualifying victims who have chosen to receive the services of the VCS are entitled to receive certain information about an offender at key stages of the sentence being served by that offender. It is for the Probation Victim Liaison Officer (VLO) to provide that information to victims. In relation to the offender once known as Jon Venables, a VLO employed by a Probation Trust was designated and authorised to disclose to qualifying victims on or around 2 March 2010 that Venables had been recalled to custody for breaching his licence conditions. There has been no change to the relevant policies and procedures since that time, albeit that VLOs are no longer employed by a Probation Trust but by the National Probation Service.

Prisons: Drugs

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) searches for and (b) discoveries of drugs there have been in prisons in each of the last three years.

Rory Stewart: The misuse of drugs in prison drives violence, vulnerability and crime and so tackling this is one of our top priorities. Consequently, we are improving our security to restrict the availability of drugs. We use body, property, cell and area searches, metal-detecting scanners and drug and phone detection dogs across the estate. We are investing £6 million to tackle drug supply and reduce demand in 10 of the most challenging prisons, with body scanners and more staff focused on effective searching. The Ministry of Justice does not record the number of searches conducted in each prison. Data and information on drug finds is routinely published as part of the normal publication schedule https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-hm-prison-and-probation-service-digest-2017-to-2018 Data on drug finds in 2018-19 will be published in due course in line with the normal publication schedule.

Ministry of Justice: Contracts

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which service providers are contracted to carry out third party cleaning contracts for his (a) Department and (b) executive agencies; if he will list all of the services delivered by third party contractors to his (i) Department and (ii) executive agencies; and how many people working for those third party contractors are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.y the Living Wage Foundation.

Edward Argar: Cleaning services in the MoJ are typically undertaken by outsourced providers as part of large Facilities Management (FM) service contracts. Providers to the MoJ HQ and probation estate are OCS and Sodexo, to the court and tribunal estate are G4S and Mitie, and to the prison estate Amey, Gov Facilities Services Ltd (GFSL) and Mitie. Rates of pay for cleaners are determined by their respective employers and not held by the Ministry of Justice. All outsourced providers are required to pay as a minimum, either the National Minimum Wage or the National Living Wage. A list of all services delivered by third party contractors to the Department is not held in a centralised location, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Veterans

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of armed forces veterans in prison.

Edward Argar: NHS England Liaison and Diversion services are able to assess vulnerable individuals, including former service personnel at first point of contact with the Criminal Justice System, for example at police stations and courts across England. Individuals may be diverted away from the Criminal Justice System, or into appropriate community orders. Project Nova in partnership with NHS Liaison & Diversion services across four regions, are able to offer former service personnel support to address the underlying issues that lead to re-offending. The Ministry of Justice understands the unique nature of those who served in the Armed Forces and those prisoners who declare a military background are able to access a range of specialist support, including from military charities who deliver services in prisons and in the community.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: ICT

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle reported ongoing issues of poor connectivity and online disruption at HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: ICT

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many courts were affected by the reported recent failure of digital infrastructure at HM Courts and Tribunals Service in (a) London, (b) the Midlands (c) North West England, (d) North East England and (e) Wales.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Criminal Injuries Compensation: Crimes of Violence

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the application process for victims of violent crime to apply for compensation; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: In our Victims Strategy published in September 2018, we set out our commitment to review the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. The terms of reference for the review were published on 18 December 2018. The review will consider how the Scheme can best reflect the changing nature of violent crime, effectively support victims in their recovery and opportunities for simplification. As part of this work, we will be considering the recommendations made by the Victims’ Commissioner in her report (Compensation without re-traumatisation) which was published on 23 January. We intend to publish proposals later this year.

Ministry of Justice: Sikhs

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Sikhs are employed in his Department; and whether they are recorded as (a) an ethnic or (b) a religious group.

Edward Argar: As at 31st March 2018, there are 236 Sikh staff employed within the MoJ; this is based on staff declaring their religious beliefs on the HR system (SOP), the declaration rate stands at 28.3%. This data will be included in the Workforce Monitoring Report. The tentative due date for publication of the Workforce Report is 31st January 2019.

Offences against Children

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the provisions of sections 16 to 24 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to include (a) sports coaches, (b) driving instructors, (c) faith leaders and (d) other positions of trust; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: Any sexual activity with a child under 16 is a criminal offence, regardless of whether consent is given. Any non-consensual sexual activity is also a crime, whatever the age of the victim and whatever the relationship between the victim and perpetrator.Where a manipulative offender grooms a child prior to them reaching the age of consent and then engages in a sexual relationship with them when they are over 16, this could be prosecuted under offences such as Section 15A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.We remain absolutely committed to protecting children and young people from sexual abuse and we already have a wide range of criminal offences under which to prosecute and sentence those who carry out such acts. We continue to keep this under review.

Cabinet Office

Public Sector: Billing

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2018 to Question 197338 on Pubic Sector: Billing, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of using a business' ability to meet the core standard of paying 95 per cent of invoices within 60 days over the previous two six month periods to determine whether those businesses will be able to pay their sub-contractors within 30 days as required by the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

Oliver Dowden: Following a public consultation in 2018, the standard of paying 95% of invoices within 60 days across both a supplier’s private and public sector business was deemed a suitable indicator of overall performance. There are a series of questions a supplier is expected to respond to about their payment practices and performance if they bid for a major Government contract from 1 September onwards.

Public Sector: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2018 to Question 197334 on public sector: procurement, how many of those spot checks carried out by the Procurement Review Service were targeted at a contracting authority that had previously not complied with a part of public procurement regulations.

Oliver Dowden: All spot checks to date have been carried out as a result of instances of non compliance identified by a supplier or potential supplier to central government or the wider public sector and subsequently investigated by the Public Procurement Review Service.

Public Procurement Review Service

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many cases have been raised with the Procurement Review Service broken down by (a) contracting authority and (b) contractor in each year since that service was established.

Oliver Dowden: The Public Procurement Review Service allows government suppliers and potential government suppliers to raise concerns anonymously about potentially poor public sector procurement practice. It would be inappropriate for us to publically name contractors/suppliers that have raised the concern. All case results (including the contracting authority in scope) are published on Gov.UK at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mystery-shopper-results No contracting authority has submitted a case for review to the service, all cases are from government suppliers, potential government suppliers and third parties. The number of cases received by the Public Procurement Review Services per financial year is as follows:  Financial YearNumber of Cases Received2010/11152011/121862012/131862013/142332014/152202015/161912016/171602017/181612018/19 (Year to Date)206

Leukaemia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have a diagnosis of myeloid leukaemia.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 83.14 KB)

Civil Servants

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants by (a) government department, (b) executive agency and (c) non-departmental public body are located (i) in London and (ii) outside London.

Oliver Dowden: In March 2018, 83,530 Civil Servants were reported as employed in London and 343,680 in locations outside London on a headcount basis. Civil Service employment by Government department and region is available in Table 12 ‘Civil Service employment; regional distribution by government department’ as part of the annual National Statistics publication, Civil Service Statistics at the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics. A table presenting the number of civil servants employed by government department, executive agency and Crown Non Departmental Public Body located in London and outside London has been placed in the library. Information on the regional employment of Non-Departmental Government Bodies is not collected centrally.

Census: Sikhs

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Question 202832 on Census: Sikhs, of the 53 participants who took part in the focus groups to consider the possible addition of new tick boxes, how many felt a specific Sikh ethnic tick-box was not acceptable.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 175.97 KB)

Census: Sikhs

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of Sikhs who did not tick the optional Sikh religious tick box in the 2011 census.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 175.97 KB)

Sikhs

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Sikhs in England and Wales.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 175.97 KB)

House of Lords: Reform

Wayne David: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government is making on reform of the House of Lords.

Mr David Lidington: The Government is continuing to work constructively with Peers, where there is consensus within the House of Lords, to enable them to achieve reforms that ensure the House continues to work effectively. The Prime Minister has committed to do her bit to reduce the size of the House by continuing the restrained approach she has taken so far to appointments. The Government welcomes the work of Lord Burns and his Committee and his second report which shows that good progress had been made on retirements.

Census

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 3.89 of the White Paper entitled Help Shape Our Future: The 2021 Census of Population and Housing in England and Wales, which of the 55 proposed tick boxes received the most number of requests.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 175.97 KB)